Photo: Unsplash on pixabay.com
You see, life has a funny way of working out just when you start to believe it never will. The catch is that some people make a hash out of it. As soon as we got the taste for battery-powered vehicles, a man comes around to tell us that it’s not OK to go green because EV drivers don’t pay gasoline taxes.
The offending clod is Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat, who highlights that gasoline tax revenues have taken a dive as motorists have started driving more electric vehicles. For this reason alone, Cullerton is lobbying for passage of the Illinois Road Improvement and Driver Enhancement Act, a bill that could go into effect nine years from now on. Care to guess what that has to do with drivers in Illinois?
To put it plainly, it’s Illinois’ idea of the pay-by-mile program implemented in Oregon last year. The program, known as OReGO, is a drag, chiefly because paying 1.5 cents per mile driven is stupid. Hear me out on this one: after the gas tax has nudged drivers toward acquiring more fuel-efficient cars, Oregon found a way to tax them as much as it did before they made the change from internal combustion to e-propulsion.
The rationale is as stupid as it gets, people. The bottom line is that when there aren’t enough motorists left to be taxed by The Man, the State will tax mileage instead. The controversial Road Improvement and Driver Enhancement Act also states that drivers in Illinois would be tracked by a transponder installed in their vehicles. Privacy much, dear State Senator John Cullerton? If you don’t want the transponder, you’re offered the choice of paying a flat tax of $450 per year, which is the equivalent of 30,000 miles driven.
When was the last time you drove 30,000 miles in a year? Furthermore, why should people who drive gasoline-fed cars pay extra because other people drive hybrids and electrics? Way to go, Illinois!
To put it plainly, it’s Illinois’ idea of the pay-by-mile program implemented in Oregon last year. The program, known as OReGO, is a drag, chiefly because paying 1.5 cents per mile driven is stupid. Hear me out on this one: after the gas tax has nudged drivers toward acquiring more fuel-efficient cars, Oregon found a way to tax them as much as it did before they made the change from internal combustion to e-propulsion.
The rationale is as stupid as it gets, people. The bottom line is that when there aren’t enough motorists left to be taxed by The Man, the State will tax mileage instead. The controversial Road Improvement and Driver Enhancement Act also states that drivers in Illinois would be tracked by a transponder installed in their vehicles. Privacy much, dear State Senator John Cullerton? If you don’t want the transponder, you’re offered the choice of paying a flat tax of $450 per year, which is the equivalent of 30,000 miles driven.
When was the last time you drove 30,000 miles in a year? Furthermore, why should people who drive gasoline-fed cars pay extra because other people drive hybrids and electrics? Way to go, Illinois!
Google News