A bill to charge registration fees on electric vehicles is making its way through the Montana legislature.
Members of the House Transportation Committee on Monday voted 15-0 to pass House Bill 60, which would allow the state to collect money from EVs the way it does gas-fueled cars.
“Those taxpayers paying the gas tax are paying for our roads right now, and the electric vehicles are not paying into that fund," the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Denley Loge of St. Regis, said at a hearing last week. "So what this bill does, it creates a mechanism to collect some funds that will go directly into that gas tax fund."
Among the groups in support of the bill are the Montana Infrastructure Coalition and the Montana Trucking Association.
A Montana Environmental Information Center representative opposed the legislation, saying the proposed fees are too high. Gov. Greg Gianforte for the same reason vetoed a similar bill Loge carried in 2021. The registration fees Loge is proposing this session are lower in comparison: For an electric vehicle under 6,000 pounds, the cost would be $130 annually, down from $195.
Loge says last session’s original bill saw price increases as it moved through the legislative process.
Loge is also sponsoring HB55, a bill that would levy a tax at EV charging stations.
