Electric vehicles don't need to gas up, which can make it difficult for the state to pay for highway maintenance. This would address that problem.
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Skipping the gasoline pump can save Texas electric vehicle owners some hassle and some costs, but lawmakers are working to make sure they do not skip out on their share of road costs.
Because all-electric cars and trucks do not pay any gasoline excise taxes — the bulk of how the state raises money for roads — state officials are considering a $200 annual renewal fee for any EV, to be paid with the owner's vehicle registration. Two identical bills, Senate Bill 505 by Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, and House Bill 2199 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, are both making their way through the Legislature. Nichols and Canales are chairman of the state senate and house transportation committees, respectively.
“This is the third time we have brought this up,” Nichols said last week, shortly before senators on the transportation committee approved a motion to send the bill to the full Senate. In the last legislative session, the bill passed the Senate but failed to get a final vote in the House.
In the two years since, based on a 2021 estimate by the Legislative Budget Board, the state has lost out on $93.4 million in revenue. If the state were to put the $200 annual fee in place, the LBB estimated, it could raise an additional $215 million over the upcoming two years.
Growth, by population and the number of miles driven means Texas is collecting more in motor fuel taxes, while also seeing costs rise for maintenance and reconstruction of its streets and highways. A record $3.78 billion was collected in fiscal 2022 from gasoline and diesel excise taxes, topping the $3.74 billion collected in fiscal 2019, according to the Texas Comptroller. Buoyed by other sources of revenue, the state’s 10-year transportation program has topped $100 billion, a record level of state highway spending.
