Finance committee members preview substitute amendment to transportation bill to include plug-in hybrids

Late in the session the committee briefly shifted to a transportation amendment. Members described a substitute amendment developed in the committee that would restore plug-in hybrids (PEVs/hybrids) to eligibility for a fuel-tax credit, remove a previously proposed cap, and authorize the commissioner to calculate credits for covered vehicles. Sponsors said the change is timed to allow use of a $3 million federal grant that must be spent by 2028 and that they would prepare a substitute amendment for floor notice the next day.

Senators discussed process options for offering the substitute versus a sequence of floor amendments and agreed the cleanest route was a committee substitute; they planned to file the substitute for consideration. Committee leaders said agencies had been consulted and that the measure seeks to use existing federal funds to avoid a new state appropriation.

The committee did not take a final vote on the substitute in this session; senators said the substitute would be circulated and filed for the next-day calendar.