Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3788 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1070 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3788
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Thomas M. Stanley and Tricia Farley-Bouvier
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to explore alternative funding sources to ensure safe and reliable transportation.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Thomas M. Stanley9th Middlesex1/14/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/28/2025 1 of 4
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1070 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3788
18	18	By Representatives Stanley of Waltham and Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, a petition
19	19	(accompanied by bill, House, No. 3788) of Thomas M. Stanley and Lindsay N. Sabadosa relative
20	20	to establishing a vehicle mileage user fee task force to explore alternative funding sources to
21	21	ensure safe and reliable transportation. Transportation.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
25	25	(2025-2026)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act to explore alternative funding sources to ensure safe and reliable transportation.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. (a) There shall be a vehicle mileage user fee task force to guide the
31	31	2development and evaluation of a pilot program established pursuant to Section 3 to assess the
32	32	3potential for mileage-based revenue collection for Massachusetts’ roads and highways as an
33	33	4alternative to the current system of taxing highway use through motor vehicle fuel taxes.
34	34	5 (b) The task force shall consist of the following members: the secretary of transportation,
35	35	6or their designee, who shall serve as chair; 1 member to be appointed by the governor, who shall
36	36	7be a registered civil engineer with no less than 10 years’ experience; 1 member to be appointed
37	37	8by the president of the senate, who shall be a representative of a transportation consumer
38	38	9organization or other public interest organization; 1 member to be appointed by the minority
39	39	10leader of the Senate, who shall be an expert in transportation data security, 1 member to be
40	40	11appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, who shall be a member of a regional
41	41	12planning agency; 1 member to be appointed by the minority leader of the house of 2 of 4
42	42	13representatives, who shall be a member of a business association; 1 member to be appointed by
43	43	14the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, who shall be an expert in the field of
44	44	15transportation finance; 1 member to be appointed by the House Chair of the Joint Committee on
45	45	16Transportation, who shall be a representative of a privacy rights advocacy organization.
46	46	17 (c) The task force may request the department of transportation to perform such work as
47	47	18the task force deems necessary to carry out its duties and responsibilities.
48	48	19 (d) The task force shall gather public comment on issues and concerns related to said
49	49	20pilot program; make recommendations to the department of transportation on the design and on
50	50	21the criteria to be used to evaluate a pilot program to test alternative approaches; and evaluate any
51	51	22pilot program implemented by the department under this Act.
52	52	23 (e) The task force shall conduct no less than 6 public hearings, 1 in each of the
53	53	24department’s highway districts. The task force shall provide interested persons with an
54	54	25opportunity to submit their views orally and in writing and the department may create and
55	55	26maintain a website to allow members of the public to submit comments electronically and to
56	56	27review comments submitted by others.
57	57	28 SECTION 2. (a) The Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall develop,
58	58	29implement and oversee no less than one statewide pilot program to assess owners of motor
59	59	30vehicles a user fee that is based on the number of miles traveled on roads in this state by those
60	60	31motor vehicles.
61	61	32 (b) The pilot program shall include no less than 1,000 volunteers across the
62	62	33commonwealth who shall be representative of drivers of trucks, passenger, and commercial
63	63	34vehicles and throughout the commonwealth, who will have on-board vehicle-mileage-counting 3 of 4
64	64	35equipment added to their vehicles, administered in a manner the department of transportation
65	65	36deems appropriate.
66	66	37 (c) The pilot program shall test the reliability, ease of use, cost and public acceptance of
67	67	38technology and methods for:
68	68	39 (1) counting the number of miles traveled by particular vehicles;
69	69	40 (2) reporting the number of miles traveled by particular vehicles; and
70	70	41 (3) collecting payments from participants in the pilot programs.
71	71	42 (d) The pilot programs shall also analyze and evaluate the ability of different
72	72	43technologies and methods to:
73	73	44 (1) protect the integrity of data collected and reported;
74	74	45 (2) ensure drivers’ privacy; and
75	75	46 (3) vary pricing based on the time of driving, type of road, proximity to transit, vehicle
76	76	47fuel efficiency, participation in car-sharing or pooling or income of the driver.
77	77	48 (e) The pilot program shall last no less than one year.
78	78	49 (f) The department shall refund motor vehicle fuel taxes paid by participants in pilot
79	79	50programs under this Act or otherwise compensate participants in pilot programs under this Act to
80	80	51ensure that participants are not required to spend more on fees or taxes than if they had not
81	81	52participated in the program. Identifying information about participation in the pilot programs
82	82	53shall not be public and shall be exempt from disclosure under section 10 of chapter 66 of the
83	83	54general laws. 4 of 4
84	84	55 (g) The department shall submit an application to the United States Department of
85	85	56Transportation for funding in federal fiscal year 2026 from the Strategic Innovation for Revenue
86	86	57Collection program established in Section 13001 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
87	87	58If the application is not successful, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall
88	88	59thereafter apply in each federal fiscal year in which grants are made available for demonstration
89	89	60projects under this federal program or until the application results in funding for the vehicle
90	90	61miles traveled pilot program, whichever occurs first.
91	91	62 SECTION 3. the Massachusetts Department of Transportation shall examine and submit
92	92	63a report to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate ways and
93	93	64means, and the joint committee on transportation on the initial result of the statewide pilot
94	94	65program no later than three years from passage of this act. The examination and report shall
95	95	66include, but not be limited to, (i) the feasibility of permanently assessing a vehicle mileage user
96	96	67fee; (ii) an evaluation of the impacts of such a fee on the economy, the environment, and traffic
97	97	68congestion; (iii) a comparison to other potential alternatives or supplements to the gas tax; and
98	98	69(iv) the department’s recommendations and any proposed legislation necessary to carry out its
99	99	70recommendations into effect.