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H 3788

Douglas Holford retirement

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Terry Alexander and 121 co-sponsors

The bill creates a Vehicle Miles Traveled pilot and task force to test mileage-based fees as an alternative or supplement to the gas tax for funding MA roads and report findings.

Introduced, adopted, returned with concurrence
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Bill Summary · H 3788

Summary — H 3788 (House Docket No. 1070)

Title: An Act to explore alternative funding sources to ensure safe and reliable transportation
Primary sponsors: Rep. Thomas M. Stanley and Rep. Tricia Farley‑Bouvier
Filed / Introduced: Jan 14 / Jan 28, 2025
Status (from docket): Introduced and adopted by House (1/28/2025); referred to Transportation (2/27/2025); Senate concurred (2/27/2025). Public hearings scheduled for 10/14/2025 (rescheduled/virtual updates noted). Related bill: HD 1070 (replaces).

Note on document contents: The legislative text submitted with this docket primarily establishes a Massachusetts vehicle‑miles‑traveled (VMT) task force and pilot program. The file also includes an unrelated concurrent resolution honoring Dr. Douglas E. Holford (a South Carolina retirement recognition). The substantive Massachusetts bill is summarized below.

Main purpose

To create a task force and a statewide pilot program to evaluate mileage‑based user fees (vehicle‑miles‑traveled, VMT) as an alternative or supplement to the motor fuel tax for funding Massachusetts roads and highways, and to report findings and recommendations to the Legislature.

Key provisions

  • Establishes a Vehicle Mileage User Fee Task Force to guide development and evaluation of a DOT‑administered pilot program. Membership specifications include:
    • Chair: Secretary of Transportation (or designee).
    • Appointees from Governor, Senate President, House Speaker, minority leaders, and chairs of Joint Committee on Transportation with defined expertise (civil engineering, transportation consumer groups, data security, regional planning, business association, transportation finance, privacy advocacy).
  • Task force duties:
    • Solicit public comment and hold at least six public hearings (one in each DOT highway district).
    • Advise DOT on pilot design, evaluation criteria, and assess pilot outcomes.
  • Pilot program (DOT to implement and oversee):
    • At least one statewide pilot including no fewer than 1,000 volunteer vehicles representative of trucks, passenger, and commercial vehicles across the Commonwealth.
    • On‑board mileage‑counting equipment to be installed; pilot duration at least one year.
    • Tests to cover: mileage counting, reporting, payment collection, reliability, cost, ease of use, and public acceptance.
    • Evaluate privacy protections, data integrity, and pricing flexibility (time of day, road type, proximity to transit, vehicle fuel efficiency, car‑pooling/shared use, and income considerations).
    • DOT to refund participants for motor fuel taxes or otherwise ensure participants do not pay more in fees/taxes than if they had not participated.
    • Participant identifying information exempt from public disclosure (cites exemption under section 10 of chapter 66).
  • Federal grant pursuit: DOT required to apply for FY2026 (and subsequent years, if necessary) funding under the USDOT Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection program (IIJA Sec. 13001).
  • Reporting: DOT must examine and submit a report within three years of enactment to legislative clerks, Ways & Means, and the Joint Committee on Transportation. Report must address feasibility of permanent VMT fee, impacts (economic, environmental, congestion), comparisons to alternatives/supplements to gas tax, and proposed legislation if warranted.

Who would be affected

  • Motor vehicle owners/drivers (passenger, commercial, and truck drivers)—participants in the pilot; potential future policy change could affect all drivers.
  • Massachusetts Department of Transportation (implementation, evaluation, federal grant applications).
  • State fiscal policy and highway funding mechanisms (possible future shift from fuel tax to mileage fees).
  • Stakeholders: privacy advocates, regional planning agencies, transportation consumer groups, businesses, and communities concerned about equity, congestion, and environmental impacts.

Timeline / procedural notes

  • Pilot must run at least one year; DOT report due within three years of enactment.
  • DOT directed to apply for federal demonstration grants beginning FY2026.
  • Public outreach required (minimum six hearings, public comment avenue including possible DOT website).
  • Current docket shows House adoption and Senate concurrence; hearings scheduled for October 14, 2025 (check committee notices for updates or virtual access changes).

Potential policy implications

  • Provides structured evaluation of VMT as a long‑term revenue alternative to fuel taxes, with explicit attention to privacy, equity, pricing design, and technological feasibility.
  • If pilot results favor VMT, findings and recommendations (including draft legislation) would shape future debates on transportation funding in Massachusetts.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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