Illinois again considers taxing drivers per mile

There’s another push in Springfield to tax motorists by the mile. Illinoisans already pay the second-highest gas taxes in the nation behind only California.

Illinois state lawmakers again want to tax drivers on each mile of road they use – an idea that lasted a week the last time they raised the idea.

With electric cars and cars being more fuel efficient, Illinois is not seeing as much revenue per vehicle, so state lawmakers are considering a vehicle miles traveled tax to raise more money from motorists. State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, proposed legislation exploring a “road usage charge” to tax drivers by the mile.

The tax might involve transponders, meaning the taxman would be tracking a driver’s movement. Or a photo of the odometer could be sent. Both gas and electric vehicles would be part of a 1,000-vehicle test of drivers who volunteer to be taxed based on miles driven, and possibly on the time of day they use roads. The move would target Illinois drivers who don’t pay the gas tax by driving electric cars or use less gas because their vehicles are efficient.

Proponents say electric vehicle drivers should contribute more than they are to funding roads. Electric vehicle license plate renewals are $251 compared to $151 for a gas vehicle. The pilot program would incentivize EV drivers to join with a discount on annual registration.

Since Gov. J.B. Pritzker doubled the gas tax in 2019 and built in automatic annual increases so lawmakers would no longer vote on the unpopular taxes, the amount drivers pay in gas taxes has reached roughly $2 billion. Illinois drivers pay the second-highest gas taxes in the nation, behind only California.

Illinois last discussed a VMT tax in 2019, but the bill’s sponsor drew so much ire that he pulled the bill a week later.

This effort, Senate Bill 1938, was being co-sponsored by state Sen. Christopher Belt, D-East St. Louis, but he pulled his name off the bill. It is assigned to the Transportation Committee, where it must receive a passing vote by March 21.

It’s hard to believe Illinois would ever be strapped for infrastructure cash. The state is going to spend $40 billion on roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects during a six-year span.

Another broken promise would be easier to believe. Illinoisans were once promised “Toll free in ’73,” meaning toll roads would eventually cost drivers nothing, but that never happened.