The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted in favor of its portion of a wide-ranging reconciliation bill to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda on April 30.
The 36–30 vote was cast after a nearly seven-hour full committee markup hearing that heard dozens of proposed amendments.
Included in the passing legislation was the introduction of new annual registration fees for electric vehicles (EV) and hybrids that would help fund federal highway repairs, along with the current 18-cents-per-gallon tax charged to Americans driving gas-powered vehicles.
“For far too long, EVs have operated on our nation’s roads without paying into this system, which is primarily funded by federal taxes on gasoline and diesel,” Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), committee chairman, said in his opening statement. “Plain and simple, this is a fairness issue, and it’s time these roadway users pay their share for the use of the road.”
If the legislation is enacted, EV drivers will have to pay a $250 annual registration fee, and hybrid drivers will have to pay a $100 fee. Those fees would last until 2035 and are projected to bring in $50 billion for highway repairs in those 10 years. This would help circumvent a $142 billion cumulative shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund projected by the Congressional Budget Office.
Any state that does not comply with the fee collections on EVs will have federal funding withheld up to 125 percent of the amount of fees owed. That consequence would take effect on Oct. 1, 2026.
Originally, the proposed fee on EVs was $200, with another $20 annual registration fee on all other vehicles. However, that $20 fee was struck down during the hearing and replaced with a raised fee on EVs.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s portion also included significant investments in the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as the modernization of the nation’s air traffic control system.
It also stripped away billions of dollars in spending on Green New Deal programs. Democratic committee members opposed the bill, saying it took away funding for infrastructure projects provided by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Several additional amendments were submitted in an attempt to shore up some funding for various projects, from the continued development of Amtrak corridors to increased disaster relief and assurances that grant money already promised would still be distributed.
