Maryland - Support EVSE Rebates & EV Tax Credits

[Pollux]

Folks,

Prompted by a... well, prompt... from Ronald Kaltenbaugh, President of the Electric Vehicles Association of the greater Washington, DC area (EVADC), there is a bill coming up for consideration tomorrow -- TUESDAY, JANUARY 30 at 1:30 p.m. -- that addresses a funding gap during which EV owners who qualified for rebates or tax credits from Maryland couldn't get them because funding had run dry.

This gap affects ALL EV owners in Maryland, as well as Tesla owners, of course.

From Ronald's prompt:

There are two ways to support the bill. One is to send written testimony in the form of a letter and the other is to testify in person.

• You can email your testimony to this email address ([email protected]) and they’ll get it to the committee for the hearing.
• The bill hearing is at 1:30pm, Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee located at 3 West Miller Senate Building, Annapolis, MD. If you can testify in person that would be great! If so, please send an email to the same address above by Monday afternoon and someone from Senator Mano’s office will get you signed up to testify.

I’ll be sending a letter on behalf of EVADC. Please send your letter as a citizen and don’t mention EVADC (the more the letters are different, from diverse sources, and not look just like copies the better).

I'm unable to attend the hearing tomorrow myself, so I'm going to send in a letter.

Please, if you can, take a moment today to write a letter of support and send it to Senator Manno at

[email protected]​

Please speak for EV owners in general; some people in the legislative process get squirrelly when they think that they are supporting "rich Tesla owners", which drives me nuts because (1) so many Tesla owners are scrimping to get a 60 or a 70 or a 75, (2) Tesla is the only EV that can fully replace an ICE for a broad set of use cases that include long-distance as well as local travel and (3) Tesla owners have funded first Roadster, then S/X, then 3, then Semi which in turn has upended the established automotive order. But there it is.

If you CAN attend the hearing, please inform Senator Mano's office at the email address above.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[Pollux]

FYI, here's my letter to the Senator/Committee. Please feel free to swipe any text from it that you wish, although I ask that you do whatever you can to make the letter as personal and differentiated as possible. Let's not fall into the form letter trap.

Thanks,
Alan

To: [email protected]
Subject: testimony in support of SB177, for tomorrow's hearing

Dear Sir / Madam:

I am unable to attend tomorrow’s committee hearing in person (Senate Budget And Taxation Committee, 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, January 30) to provide testimony on Senate Bill 177. Therefore, please accept my written testimony in lieu of my appearance.

My name is [Pollux]. I am a resident of Maryland, living at [address redacted] with my wife and my 13-year old son. I am an occasional entrepreneur and small investor in the area of startup computer companies.

I write to you today in support of the passage of Senate Bill 177, an act concerning “Electric Vehicle Recharging Equipment Rebate Program and Electric Vehicle Excise Tax Credit — Fiscal Year 2017 Applicants”.

I strongly support this program and others like it as a way to accelerate the electrification of the transportation sector of our economy. Electrifying our transportation will result in a number of substantial benefits to the voters and citizens of Maryland, such as:

(1) substantial reduction in airborne pollutants
(2) substantial reduction in carbon emissions pollution, which is critical in our fight against anthropogenic climate change
(3) substantial reduction in noise pollution
(4) reduction in total life-cycle transportation cost for voters and residents due to lower cost of electricity versus gasoline and lower vehicle maintenance costs
(5) health benefits from (1), (2) and (3)
(6) property benefits from (1) and (2)

The use of a wisely-targeted incentive such as the one addressed by SB177 aids careful consumers in reaching a purchasing decision with the wide social benefits outlined above. SB177 delivers on the promise already made elsewhere in the EV rebate and tax credit program for the set of consumers who made EV purchasing decisions in FY2017 only to discover later that funding had run dry.

I think it important to note that I, myself, am the owner of two electric vehicles. I purchased one in December, 2016, which I believed to be ineligible for this program at that time and I continue to believe that it is ineligible even should SB177 be enacted. I purchased a second EV in January, 2018, which I believe is eligible for the program as it exists now and the passage or failure of SB177 would not change that eligibility. Therefore, I believe I offer my testimony without bias towards my own personal reward.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,


Alan Langerman
[address redacted]

 

[Lanny]

493 qualified electric vehicles would have received a tax credit of $1.2 million but did not because the application was submitted after the maximum amount of credits had been awarded. (From the Fiscal and Policy Note for Maryland SB177.)

Two affected EV owners testified in support of SB 177 at the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee hearing today. The president of the Maryland Auto Dealers Assoc. also supported the bill.

 

[Pollux]

@Lanny, any impression of how the testimony was received and/or which way the committee members were leaning?

I am surprised that MADA supported this bill. Why? And... does that mean it's much more likely to pass?

Thanks,
Alan

 

[Lanny]

@Pollux, None of the committee members asked questions and there was no verbal testimony opposing the bill so it is difficult to form an impression.

MADA supports vehicle tax credits because it helps them sell cars. It is the dealers who usually have to tell the customer that the Maryland EV tax credit has run out. MADA supported Governor Hogan's Clean Cars Act of 2017.

Don't forget that Maryland Automobile Dealers Association supported the Tesla direct sales bill which passed in 2015.

Dealers Support, GM Opposes Bill to Allow Tesla Sales in Maryland | PlugInSites

-Lanny

 

[Pollux]

Wow! @Lanny, I had no idea! I just watched/listened to a chunk of the video you pointed to, and saw for myself that the Maryland Auto Dealers Association was neutral rather than opposing the 2015 direct sales bill while GM was adamantly opposed and at a minimum wanted the bill to restrict Tesla to its then-existing two facilities (showroom and Rockville SC).

I am NOT used to stories from anywhere in the country about a state Auto Dealer Association being cooperative or even neutral.

So I thank you for educating me!

Alan

 

[Lanny]

Here's a link to the video of testimony on SB 177 in the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

 

[Lanny]

@Pollux Allan,

Looks like this bill has died in committee.

 

[Pollux]

Yes, there have been several committee deaths over the past few days. :-(

 

[Lanny]

Maryland SB 1234 had a hearing yesterday, do you know how that went, @Pollux?

SB 1234 would require 50% of light-duty vehicles purchased for the Maryland State vehicle fleet be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2026. Maryland governments, both state and local, procured only 30 ZEVs last year which was 0.62% of their total fleet purchases.

 

[Pollux]

Sorry, I don't know how SB 1234 went. I was referring to bills that were heard March 5.

 

[Lanny]

This bill has suddenly been brought back from the dead.

In the past few days, SB 177 got a Favorable Report in committee and passed on the Senate floor. Now it has been referred to the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee in an unusual move to get approval to send the bill over since it missed the crossover deadline on March 19th.

The Maryland General Assembly 2018 Session adjourns at midnight April 9th. There is still time.

@Pollux, do you know why this bill is moving so late?

 

[Pollux]

News to me! (I've been traveling.)

But: welcome news!

 

[Lanny]

News to me! (I've been traveling.)

But: welcome news!

The Maryland General Assembly 2018 Session adjourned last night and unfortunately, SB 177 did not make it through.

Lanny

 

[Pollux]

Sheesh, I can't even reply in time. :-(

 

[fsudirtybird]

if you applied after funds ran out can you reapply the next year (july 1st ) . or do they keep your form on record and just pay you out once they get the funds?

 

[Pollux]

if you applied after funds ran out can you reapply the next year (july 1st ) . or do they keep your form on record and just pay you out once they get the funds?

@Lanny?

 

[Lanny]

I suggest calling the Excise Tax Refund Unit at the Maryland MVA to see what they advise.

Here's a link to the Maryland Excise Tax Credit for Plug-in Electric Vehicles info page.

-Lanny

 

[vadims1]

if you applied after funds ran out can you reapply the next year (july 1st ) . or do they keep your form on record and just pay you out once they get the funds?

If someone has an update to this, please post up or I’ll call in Tuesday.

 

[Lanny]

Since this didn't pass in 2018, they are trying again with a bill to take care of people who didn't get the Maryland EV tax credit because of the funding gap.

Maryland HB 72 is sponsored by Delegate Korman.

Video here of the hearing on Feb. 7, 2019.