HB2026 – Implementing a pilot program collecting a per mile road use charge on vehicles in place of the gas tax.
Prime Sponsor – Representative Wicks (D; 38th District; Everett)
Current status – Had a hearing in Transportation February 3rd.
Next step would be – Action by the committee.
Legislative tracking page for the bill.

Summary –
The bill would create a road use charge program for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, collecting an annual fee of 2.5¢ for each mile they drove in the previous year rather than the $225 in fees they currently pay. The new system would apply to new all electric cars purchased or leased after July 1 2025, and would be a registration option for other all electric vehicles. It would be an option for plug-in hybrids after July 1, 2026. The total annual fee could not exceed the current additional fees for the car, and that limit would be reduced by $50 for voluntary participants.

After July 1st 2027 owners of an internal combustion vehicle could choose to pay the road use fee, and would get a credit against the fuel tax that the Department determined corresponded to the tax they would have paid on its annual fuel usage. The charge could not exceed the current additional fees for plug-ins, and that limit would be reduced by $50. The department would have to design and execute a public outreach and education program, in consultation with the Transportation Commission, before implementing the program.

The bill would require at least 500 state owned electric, electric-hybrid, and internal combustion passenger or light duty truck fleet vehicles to be included in the program. They’d be selected by the Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Transportation Commission, to further test the viability of a per mile fee on electric-hybrid and internal combustion vehicles, but would not be subject to the fee until July 1, 2027.

The Department would offer owners one or more methods of reporting miles driven, including one based on submitting odometer readings periodically. It could also include one or more automated methods, and could certify one or more private sector services to provide those. It would have to offer periodic payment options to participants. It would report to the Legislature on the program’s performance each year, and offer recommendations for improving it. The Transportation Commission would be required to assess approaches to implementing a per mile fee discount for low-income vehicle owners, in collaboration with the DOT, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature’s Transportation Committees by January 10, 2024, as part of its report on the results of its Federal research program. By January 1, 2029, the Joint Transportation Committee would evaluate the road use charge in consultation with the Department to assess requirements for fully implementing it in place of the fuel tax, well as the potential revenue impacts of that, and report to the Legislature’s transportation committees.