News Release from www.HawaiiVotes.org

2011 Senate Bill 819 (Transportation; Vehicle Miles Traveled Pilot Program)

• Introduced by Sen. J. Kalani English (D) on January 21, 2011.
• Requires the state Department of Transportation to evaluate a vehicle miles traveled user fee and establish one or more pilot programs to test alternatives to the existing state and county system of motor vehicle fuel taxes.
• Scheduled to be heard in the Senate Committee on Transportation, International & Intergovernmental Affairs on Friday, January 28, 2011, at 1:15 p.m. in Conference Room 224.

Road to Taxes is Paved with Good Intentions

Thanks to the high cost of motor vehicle fuel--which in Hawaii includes the second highest gasoline taxes in the country at 63.5 cents per gallon--people have started buying alternative cars and cars which get better fuel mileage. The unintended consequence of increasing the cost of motor vehicle fuel is that there is less money going into the state coffers to pay for the upkeep of the roads. With this change in driving behavior, which has spawned the age of the electric car, our Legislature is now looking  at ways to bring the electric-driving public back into the tax fold. Hence this pilot program to track vehicle miles traveled by road users. 

So much for “going green.”  LINK: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=819

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