NC Republicans question how governor plans to pay for road repairs as state goes green
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North Carolina lawmakers are raising questions about how the state will pay for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s plan to put more electric vehicles on the roads by 2030, requesting that the governor outline a strategy to ensure the state can pay for much-needed bridge and road repairs in the coming years.
In a letter sent to Cooper last week — first reported on by NC Policy Watch — Republican Sens. Vicki Sawyer, Tom McInnis and Paul Newton asked the governor to explain how he believes North Carolina will make up for a growing loss of revenue from the gas tax, which pays for transportation infrastructure, as more people switch to electric cars.
The letter comes in response to an executive order Cooper unveiled earlier this month outlining a plan to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state to address climate change. Transportation was a focus of that order, as the sector is one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses.
But drivers’ and car manufacturers’ shift away from gas-powered vehicles — and Cooper’s goal of 1.25 million electric vehicles by 2030 — will inevitably mean a steep decline in transportation revenue. That will jeopardize the state’s ability to keep roads and bridges safe — a problem for which Cooper hasn’t proposed a specific solution.
“How are we going to pay for the promises that we have already committed to?” said Sawyer, of Mooresville, who is also a transportation committee chair. “How are we going to pay for these new promises that are being made?”
The order also mandates that electric vehicles make up 50% of new car sales in the state by 2030, sets new targets for greenhouse gas emissions and directs the state’s Department of Transportation to create a plan to guide the state’s transition to electric vehicles.
In a recent interview with Spectrum News, Cooper said his order would convene people to consider the future of transportation revenue.
“You know that when you’re taking away the gas tax, that you have to find a supplemental income,” Cooper said. “I think the challenge is making sure that it is fair. I do not want everyday North Carolinians who are paying a gas tax now and getting from one place to the next, under a new system have to pay more than they would have with the gas tax.”
As to what that should be: “I think we need to leave that to this group, but there’s miles driven, there’s public-private partnership. And the thing is, I think the way it would be more palatable is if we reduce and remove the gas tax at a time we’re trying to find another way to fund transportation.”
Sen. Mike Woodard, a Democrat from Durham who sits on the transportation committee, said the legislature has long been in discussions about how to modernize the state’s revenue stream as more people inevitably switch to electric vehicles, including with the governor’s administration.
“It is fully our intent to file legislation to modernize the revenue sources,” Woodard said.
But some Republicans say it’s past time to make a plan for how the state’s Department of Transportation will make up for a loss of one of its biggest funding sources.
“It’s going to take all of us to solve this problem,” Sawyer said.
In a written response to Republicans’ letter, which also included questions pertaining to how the governor’s latest order conflicts with recently passed bipartisan energy legislation, clean energy director Dionne Delli-Gatti said lawmakers had “misconceptions” about the governor’s order.
“This transition also must be carefully implemented through meaningful engagement with businesses, local governments, advocates, and the general public to ensure the transition is fair, least-cost, and economically sustainable,” Delli-Gatti wrote. “We would love to have your input in this process as the legislature will need to make some difficult decisions on transportation infrastructure.”
The legislature has previously made efforts to raise registration fees for electric vehicle owners who don’t pay the gas tax, but that legislation has failed.
Republicans’ letter may serve as a way to revive those efforts once again. Sawyer is hopeful that will happen in a bipartisan fashion.
“When you’re talking about people’s livelihoods and their lives, North Carolinians’ future is all intertwined into transportation,” Sawyer said. “And if we make that a political football then we are absolutely not doing the job we were elected for.”
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
