10/15/2025

House Bill 389

Lead Sponsors: Representative Joe Miller and Representative David Thomas

Status: First hearing in House Transportation (October 7, 2025)

Description: The bill would eliminate the $100 additional registration fee for traditional hybrid vehicles.

Vehicle registration fee revenues are used for road and bridge maintenance. The main source of revenue for that purpose is the motor vehicle fuel tax (“gas tax”). Since traditional hybrid vehicles, along with plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, use less gasoline than traditional motor vehicles, the additional registration fees were added to offset some of the gas tax revenue lost due to their increased efficiency or non-reliance on gasoline.

The Legislative Service Commission estimates that eliminating the additional registration fee would reduce vehicle registration fee revenue by $13.8 million in SFY 2026 and $30.0 million in SY 2027. Of those figures, about $2.3 million in SFY 2026 and $5.0 million in SFY 2027 would be losses to counties.

CCAO Position: No position (as of October 2025)