by Matthew Holloway | Feb 16, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A bill to amend the Arizona Constitution to prohibit the state, cities, towns, and counties from tracking, taxing, or limiting vehicle miles traveled has passed a House committee and is moving to a floor vote. If approved by the Arizona House and Senate, HCR2035 will bypass Governor Katie Hobbs and go straight to the voters for approval.
Scot Mussi, President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AZFEC) said in a statement, “As we have seen in other states, governments left to their own devices will succumb to radical attempts to track, tax, or limit their citizens’ transportation miles.”
He added, “These environmental schemes have no place in a free and prosperous society. In this divided state government, it is critical for our Republican-led Legislature to proactively send this constitutional amendment to the voters to protect our state from these authoritarian policies. I’m thankful to the lawmakers who have supported this bill, and I look forward to seeing it pass the full House in the near future.”
The measure has been supported by AZFEC since at least March 2024 when the organization warned that “tracking, limiting and taxing our vehicle miles traveled is a dream scenario for those pushing a radical environmental agenda,” citing the Biden administration’s pilot program for a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax baked into the Inflation Reduction Act.
In a post to X, the AZFEC explained, “HCR 2035 is the first of its kind in the nation. As a constitutional amendment, it would prohibit the state, cities, towns, and counties from imposing a Vehicle Miles Traveled tax and limiting or monitoring vehicle miles traveled by an individual – whether they are using a gas-powered car or an electric vehicle. If approved by the Arizona House and Senate, the measure would then be transmitted to the Secretary of State to be included on the November 2026 General Election ballot to be considered by voters, bypassing the Governor’s Office.”
In January, the corresponding measure passed the Senate Government Committee as SCR1004 and is now pending a vote on the Senate floor as well. The bill was introduced by Arizona Senator Jake Hoffman.
The Arizona chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus offered its endorsement of SCR1004 alongside SB1092 which work in tandem.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Mar 9, 2024 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
The “Freedom to Move” bill, a ballot referral that would create a constitutional ban on taxes or fees for Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and limitations on travel miles, SCR1002/HCR2018, failed to pass in the Senate on Wednesday.
The resolution failed as Republican State Sen. Ken Bennett (R-LD01) joined Democrats in voting against it.
VMTs levy fees based on miles driven, generally for passenger vehicles only. Oregon implemented a VMT in 2015, and Utah implemented a VMT in 2020. The federal government has encouraged VMT pilots and enhancements through its Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives (STSFA) grant program. Arizona is a member state of the STSFA Road Usage Charge (RUC) America Pilot, as are 12 other states.
Bennett expressed frustration that he was unable to have “reasonable changes” made to this or any other resolution like it.
The senator said that while he agreed with the desire to prevent limitations to free movement, he had concerns that the bill didn’t provide sufficient exceptions for governmental entities to monitor their vehicles for maintenance and employee reimbursement purposes.
Bennett further noted that businesses brought concerns to him that they would be prevented from complying with or taking advantage of the state implementation plan through Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), and federal statutes.
“We do not want Arizona ever to be going down the road of what’s happening in other jurisdictions where they’re using VMT taxes or fees to limit people’s ability to move freely wherever they want to go,” said Bennett.
Bennett also claimed the bill wouldn’t appropriately apply to alternative fuel vehicles, such as electric vehicles. He suggested the legislature first come up with an energy equivalency calculation to bring alternative fuel vehicles into the process of paying for the roads.
“The growing number of electric vehicles is outside the HURF [Highway User Revenue Fund] revenue in this state, and we have to address that,” said Bennett.
Sen. Jake Hoffman (R-LD15) dismissed Bennett’s concerns as “patently false” and alleged that his counterpart knew that to be the case.
Hoffman countered that the bill does allow for governmental entities to enact VMT monitoring or limitations, just not mandates for businesses, and that the bill wouldn’t preclude businesses from voluntarily engaging with VMT rules or policies. The latter was a provision added under an amendment at the request of Intel Corporation, according to Hoffman.
Hoffman said that the federal government and entities bent on advancing environmental interests and policies were behind a feverish push for VMT.
“It’s called choice architecture, it’s a theory of the left. In choice architecture, you artificially alter the inputs with which people make decisions, so that the architecture surrounding those decisions changes,” said Hoffman. “You raise the price of gas to an unreasonable level, well, what’s the resulting behavior? They don’t drive as much.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Republican State Sen. Frank Carroll (R-LD28) voted against SCR1002/HCR2018. Sen. Carroll voted in favor of the resolution.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
