Maryland officials are considering a highway-use fee aimed to offset the state’s declining gas tax revenue.

House Bill 1457 would require owners of certain alternative fuel vehicles, fuel-efficient vehicles, and plug-in electric vehicles to pay an annual highway-use fee ranging from $5.83 to $182 based on an average of 11,245 miles driven or pay for the miles they drive by participating in a Mileage-Based User Fee program.

“This is about equity,” said Del. Jared Solomon, a Democrat representing Montgomery County and the bill’s sponsor. “So if you are poor and you can’t afford a new car, you are not going to get hit with this because we know you are paying more on gas tax than someone who was able to go out and buy a brand new car even if it’s not an EV they are paying significantly less gas tax and the gas tax is falling disproportionately on low-income folks who are driving older vehicles.”

The proposal is based on a law already adopted in Virginia, where drivers of fuel-efficient vehicles pay a highway-use fee every year from $6 to $128, lawmakers say.

Solomon says the average Marylander drives around 12,000 miles a year and has a fuel efficiency of 25 miles per gallon. If passed, the bill would also impose a highway use fee in addition to the fuel tax on drivers whose cars’ miles per gallon is 25 or higher.

The bill would replace the newly passed EV registration fee of $125.

Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, opposes the bill.

“We have some of the highest gas taxes already in the country,” said Ready. “So this is something that would just add to that burden in Maryland. They always want to punish the drivers.”

But some electric vehicle drivers say they understand and agree with the proposal.

“I can understand the logic,” said Baltimore County resident Chip Smith. “Maintenance of the highways and roads, which is an issue in our city, is done through our gas tax, so if there’s going to be a reduction in gas tax income because more people are going electric, then there has to be some way to recuperate that.”

“To be part of paying for good roads and easy transport and more environmentally sound buildings and things like that,” said Baltimore County resident Elisabeth Ebert. “I think I feel like it’s an important part of being an American citizen.”

Solomon says the reason behind the bill is the falling state gas tax revenue in part due to the use of more fuel-efficient and electric vehicle options.

According to the Eastern Transportation Coalition, gas tax revenue will drop by another $300 million by 2031.

The sponsors of HB1457 say this would be an alternative to help offset the costs and help fund the transportation projects.

Ready disagrees and has proposed Senate Bill 0557, which is aimed to prevent the state or local jurisdictions from implementing mandatory vehicle-miles-traveled tax.

“The problem in our transportation trust fund is not that we don’t collect enough gas tax,” Ready said. “Gas tax is declining even though we have it go up every year. The problem is we have a mass transit system that sucking money out of the transportation trust fund and not going anywhere close to offsetting any of its cost.”

This bill does not include mopeds, motorcycles, or vehicles over 26,000 pounds.

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