GOP members in the House are recommending a new registration fee for electric and hybrid vehicles as part of a package carrying the bulk of President Trump’s legislative agenda.
The proposal, released Tuesday by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would leverage state vehicle registration systems to assess an annual fee of $200 for EVs and $100 for hybrid cars.
It’s designed to ensure that drivers who use vehicles that run on electric batteries pay into the Highway Trust Fund, which is primarily funded through the gas tax, paid by motorists who fill up at the pump.
“It’s only fair that EVs pay these user fees like other motorists,” Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves, Missouri Republican, said. “In fact, the new user fees provision addresses the broken Highway Trust Fund revenue stream in a substantial manner for the first time in over 30 years.”
The gas tax doesn’t produce enough revenue to sustain the Highway Trust Fund, so Congress routinely transfers funds to close the gap.
The deficit between Highway Trust Fund spending and revenue was $13.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to approach $37 billion by 2034.
Mr. Graves’ long-term goal is to repeal and replace the gas tax with a more sustainable system for financing the Highway Trust Fund, which is the main source of funding for surface transportation programs.
As a first step toward that, his committee’s portion of the reconciliation bill would, starting in fiscal 2031, impose a $20 annual registration fee on all passenger vehicles not already subject to the electric or hybrid vehicle fees.
Collectively, the new vehicle registration fees are estimated to boost revenues for the Highway Trust Fund by $50 billion over 10 years. They would all sunset by Oct. 1, 2035.
Lawmakers have long debated proposals for replacing the gas tax as they face deadlines to reauthorize surface transportation programs, but they’ve struggled to reach consensus on alternative ideas, like a vehicle miles traveled tax.
The registration fees, if enacted, would be the first real step toward an alternative Highway Trust Fund financing system.
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is set to mark up its portion of the reconciliation package on Wednesday. Ten other committees are also holding markups this week and next on other pieces, which include sweeping tax and spending cuts and funding for border security, immigration enforcement and defense.
