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SB 6586 - Do NOT let this happen!

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Did some research while I lay in bed with a bad bad cold. At first blush it sounds like a Koch brother / oil company conspiracy. However, looking at the four bill sponsors, they all show as Democrats from Seattle, Tacoma, north Pudget sound districts if I’m looking at the map right.
To me the over riding principle is that EVs should pay their fare share for the roads but not anymore than an equivalent ice vehicle. Unfortunately the current gas tax worked well as it accounted roughly for weight, pollution, and out of state miles. Also taxed the illegal economy since had to pay at the pump. As others have said, I don’t see a similar easy to implement solution due to home charging. I hate the idea of tolls but tolling all major roads and then a registration fee based on mpge may be the way to go. They want to toll all the freeways anyway. If we do end up with mileage based, it better not be the equivalent of a big pickup for a sedan
Senate sponsors are;
Saldana 37th, Hobbs 44th, Lilas 21st, Conway 29th.

exactly, unless this is the vanguard of all vehicles ending up charged at 3.5 cents a mile ? @ $.494/gal $.035/mile is roughly the equivalent of 14 mpg. per mile is flat, but obviously disincentivises high mpg and punishes BEVs and PHEVs particularly.
 
The argument that EV owners can afford it is not a fair one, some buy for the increased longevity.

I offset my electric costs in Seattle by installing a solar system, I’m sure others here have done this as well. I plan to contact my solar installer, some lobby for causes like this and this will impact their business.
 
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The argument that EV owners can afford it is not a fair one, some buy for the increased longevity.

I offset my electric costs in Seattle by installing a solar system, I’m sure others here have done this as well. I plan to contact my solar installer, some lobby for causes like this and this will impact their business.

I know lots of owners of older leafs, who are in no way shape or form well off, many are happy to spend more on an old, limited leaf than a similar age Honda because theyre less polluting and cheaper to run and maintain. In a per gallon tax they’d be paying at the level of a 30 or 35 mpg car with the old Honda, not the 14 mpg that 3.5 cents a mile works out to. The flat per mile tax is also seriously regressive, compared to the existing per gallon tax, which at least incentivizes high mpg vehicles.

oddly the main sponsors of this clearly regressive and anti ev tax are all democrats from Seattle.
 
Holy cow!

Does anyone else see fossil fuel industry lobbyists at work here?!?

Can't wait for a carbon tax, but doubt there are enough pols able to fight the fossil fuel industry's money and make such a thing happen . . . .

No. California has been nerfing solar and EVs since 2016, and it's as radically leftist as you get. We have the highest costs per mile in the USA for all kinds of cars/trucks. Cars have several different taxes on them. By the time a car is 10 years old, you've spent more on taxes than the car.
 
1110, is the clean fuels legislation. It doesn’t actual fund infrastructure or generate revenue for the state, it just requires us to find less carbon intensive fuel sources potentially raising the cost to source gasoline.Washington House passes clean-fuels legislation sought by Inslee

interesting. I actually like the pay per mile model because it charges based on usage (weight should be factored in too though) vs a flat fee. Just wish the proposed 3.5 cents wasn’t crazy. Also hope if they get rid of the $75 fee some of the pay per mile money will still go toward expanding charging options.
 
Yes,Tax Gas! That will temporarily give funds for roads but more important it will push more drivers to EV and/or other modes of transportation. Then in the future, when funds from the Gas tax decrease we will have a lot more EV drivers and so also have a bigger voice in making EV taxes fair.
 
Yes,Tax Gas! That will temporarily give funds for roads but more important it will push more drivers to EV and/or other modes of transportation. Then in the future, when funds from the Gas tax decrease we will have a lot more EV drivers and so also have a bigger voice in making EV taxes fair.

I read that the doubling of the gas tax portion is not meant to go to roads
 
That is ok. Taxing gas will still push people to cleaner transportation.

By the way.the rest or the world has gas taxes more than double the USA.
Adding to the gas tax is more likely to push people to elect different politicians who are DEFINITELY not EV supporters.

I get that many other countries tax gas at a significantly higher rate. But most Americans are too attached to their cars or do not have reasonable alternatives.

Also note that a higher gas tax will have a significant impact on people already struggling to pay other bills. Mass transit is not an option for them. They have to live very far away from their jobs in order to find affordable housing.

So we should be working with these folks to fix their broken bills. Most seem to be in support of the *concept* of pay per mile. We need to find an implementation that's reasonable. I'd like to see some standard that lets the cars collect & report miles travelled per-state, without collecting more detailed location data. That's a long-term solution though, not something that addresses today's problem.

I worry that PPM may not be the best option, because it'll have a major impact on the cost of everything as those trucking companies pass the new tax along.
 
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Yes,Tax Gas! That will temporarily give funds for roads but more important it will push more drivers to EV and/or other modes of transportation. Then in the future, when funds from the Gas tax decrease we will have a lot more EV drivers and so also have a bigger voice in making EV taxes fair.

that’s the kind of simplistic attitude that got us into ST3 aka $1200 tabs....