If you want to make a difference, maybe you can send something like this to the
Gov Ever's "Voice Your Opinion" page. It's long and wordy. I don't consider that a disadvantage. And if you send the IDENTICAL thing, I also don't think that's a disadvantage. If he sees an active, unified and organized community out there, especially this community that maybe tends to vote Democratic, he may take notice. If he does hold up the fee and the legislature balks, maybe that will generate a little press and public notice for the issue. Again, step by step...
B
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Governor Evers,
I am a member of the community of hybrid-electric vehicle owners, specifically, gas-only hybrid-electric vehicle owners. I respectfully request that you instruct the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WI DOT) to stop collecting the $75 hybrid-electric vehicle fee that is now being imposed on gas-only hybrid-electric vehicles pending challenges to the legislative and WI DOT definitions that form the basis that justifies the fee, and to the processes and procedures WI DOT uses to select vehicles that will be charged the fee.
According to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau Paper #696 dated May, 2019 and titled:
Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Fee Definition
(Transportation -- Transportation Finance)
[LFB 2019-21 Budget Summary: Page 408, #10]
You, as the recently elected Democratic governor of Wisconsin, proposed the following:
"Amend the definition of a hybrid-electric vehicle to mean a vehicle that is capable of using
both electricity and gasoline, diesel fuel, or alternative fuel to propel the vehicle. "
This definition is entirely arbitrary and unworkable. It does not provide guidance to citizens or to WI DOT as to which vehicles are and are not included as targets for the fee. In fact, every gas-only vehicle is covered by the definition in that they all use electricity to fire spark plugs to ignite gas to propel the vehicle. This means that the enforcement of the legislation is, by its nature arbitrary. On this basis, alone, the WI DOT should be instructed by you to stop collecting the hybrid-electric vehicle fee.
Subsequent issues in defining arbitrary subsets of targeted vehicles accrue from that basic, vague definition. According to the discussion point of Paper #696:
2. The U.S. Department of Energy states that two types of hybrids exist in today's U.S. automobile market:
"Mild hybrids - also called micro hybrids - use a battery and electric motor to help power the vehicle and can allow the engine to shut off when the vehicle stops (such as at traffic lights or in stopand-go traffic), further improving fuel economy. Mild hybrid systems cannot power the vehicle using electricity alone. These vehicles generally cost less than full hybrids but provide less fuel economy benefit than full hybrids"; and
"Full hybrids, have larger batteries and more powerful electric motors, which can power the vehicle for short distances and at low speeds. These vehicles cost more than mild hybrids but provide better fuel economy benefits."
and:
"3. The Department indicates under the proposed definition change, DOT would apply the additional registration fee only to full hybrids. DOT indicates that it would search the vehicle identification number (VIN) for a hybrid identification as only vehicles that have full hybrid capabilities would carry this hybrid VIN identification."
The definitions in discussion point 2 are not from any technical papers prepared by the US DOE, but are instead from instructional, public facing pages that encourage the adoption of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). Reference:
Alternative Fuels Data Center: Hybrid Electric Vehicles
They are entirely unsuitable for use as "definitions in law". There are other, more precise sources that that define different types of hybrid-electric vehicles that do not support the statements of discussion point 2. Nonetheless, in discussion point 3, WI DOT apparently specifies that the stated definition for "full hybrids" will be the basis for applying the hybrid electric vehicle fee. This method of classification has little or no relevance to the purpose for which the classification is made.
Discussion point 3 also states that WI DOT would "search the vehicle identification number (VIN) for a hybrid identification as only vehicles that have full hybrid capabilities would carry this hybrid VIN identification". This process has proven to be entirely opaque to citizen scrutiny. Requests to WI DOT to provide details on their VIN identification processes and procedures have gone unanswered. Citizen searches of VIN identification values for relevant vehicle models show inconsistent results. In addition, citizen evaluations of the VIN identification values show that some identical manufacturer and model vehicles across different years yield differing, potentially relevant VIN identification values. This means that the different classifications for different vehicles, with regard to imposition of the hybrid-electric vehicle fee, will not be "real", and will instead be feigned or arbitrary distinctions, in this case, model year.
Gas-only hybrid-electric vehicles exist on a continuum of energy efficiency that include small-engine turbos, vehicles that employ weight reduction, and vehicles that use alternative, but still taxed fuels, such as diesel. The imposition of the $75 fee on gas-only hybrid-electric vehicles is entirely disparate, relative to the difference in efficiency classification, as to be wholly arbitrary both for vehicles generally considered hybrid-electric, and any other efficient vehicle.
"Equal protection requires that classification rest on real and not feigned differences, that the distinction have some relevance to the purpose for which the classification is made, and that the different treatment be not so disparate, relative to the difference in classification, as to be wholly arbitrary."
There appears to be no motor vehicle taxation exemption under the "Equal Protection Clause" for this type of arbitrarily targeted fee. On all points, the gas-only hybrid electric fee is inappropriate, unfair, and probably illegal.
Again, as a member of the gas-only hybrid-electric community, and an affected Wisconsin citizen, I request that you, as governor, instruct the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WI DOT) to stop collecting the $75 hybrid-electric vehicle fee pending challenges to its implementation.
Sincerely,
Today
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