Why state mileage taxes violate your constitutional rights



Does your state charge you for every mile you drive?

Oregon's been doing it since 2015. Utah since 2020. And more states are planning to follow suit.

There's just one problem: So-called mileage taxes are blatantly unconstitutional.

The right to travel freely is a fundamental right; as such, it is protected under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The $1.2 trillion "Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal" Sec. 13002 contains provisions that implement a federal per-mile user fee on drivers of passenger vehicles and requires carmakers to build driver monitoring technology.

How will the government check your mileage? Look no farther than your smartphone, which knows where you are and how fast you're going. Oh, and it listens to what you're saying, too.

Leave it to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) to take such an Orwellian idea and run with it. He wants to install special GPS odometers in both gas and electric cars (as well as motorcycles) in order to charge Californians three cents for each mile driven.

Don't worry, these new tracking devices will stop charging you the minute you leave the state — honest!

Newsom claims the new by-the-mile system will let the state get rid of its gasoline tax — but don't hold your breath. At any rate, this mileage tax shouldn't be on the table at all — in any state.

In its 1868 decision Crandall v. State of Nevada, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot impose taxes or regulations that burden the right of individuals to travel freely, including the modes of travel they use. The case specifically addressed Nevada's attempt to tax individuals leaving the state by various means of conveyance, such as stagecoaches or steamboats.

The right to travel freely is a fundamental right; as such, it is protected under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The Court's reasoning was grounded in the principle that such taxes would infringe upon a fundamental right and exceed the permissible scope of state taxation powers.

Since all citizens have the right to move around freely, a state cannot impose taxes that interfere with their ability to leave.

The bottom line is the government does not have the right to charge you by the mile, no matter what these legislators may think. But legal niceties are of little interest to budding authoritarians looking for more cash from their subjects.

Now is the time to fight back against these laws before our rights as drivers — and as citizens — are eroded any further.

The Biden Administration’s Mileage Tax Idea Is Not Just Stupid, It’s Elitist

Biking Buttigieg can get out of a mileage tax, but that's not how most of America works. If the administration cared about working families, they'd know that.

Pete Buttigieg says taxing folks for every mile they drive is option for funding infrastructure plan



Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg suggested Friday that implementing a mileage tax on American drivers could be a possibility as the Biden administration considers ways to pay for their anticipated multi-trillion-dollar "green" infrastructure plan.

What are the details?

Buttigieg is calling for "a generational investment in infrastructure," but has offered few details regarding how it might be financed, as the Associated Press noted earlier this week.

The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was asked about the possibility of a mileage tax as an option during an interview on CNBC, and he replied, "So, I think that shows a lot of promise," explaining:

"If we believe in that so-called 'user pays principle' — the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive — the gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it, it's not anymore. So a so-called Vehicle Miles Traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it."

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says taxing drivers by the mile “shows a lot of promise” and could be a way… https://t.co/YYXxjujv3T
— The Recount (@The Recount)1616767467.0

Implementing a mileage tax would involve installing every vehicle on the roadway with a distance-tracking device, which raises both privacy and tampering concerns.

Proponents of such a plan argue that it is more fair than a fuel tax because even electric cars are taxed under the scheme. But such a tax hits the poor the hardest, and opponents from both right and left came out swinging against Buttigieg to make that point.

"Truly brilliant way to completely screw over lower income and middle class Americans!" Meghan McCain, co-host of "The View," tweeted. "And every single person living in a rural area who has to drive far to get places! Just brilliant Pete, truly."

Fox News host Laura Ingraham said of Buttigieg's comments, "Once again, Biden & Secretary 'Pete' hurting the poor and middle class most with 'miles travelled' tax."

Progressive journalist Walker Bragman tweeted, "We should be 'funding' public infrastructure by taxing the wealthiest Americans. Pete Buttigieg's first big idea as transportation secretary is funding it with a mileage tax, which basically means people who use the roads more pay more. Regressive McKinsey brain."

Someone else argued, "I don't think he's thought this out very well. Housing costs in Nashville is causing ppl to move miles away to find affordable housing. This would hit those who could ill afford it hard as there is NO public transportation to take advantage of. This would hit rural areas hard."

But the transportation secretary had some defenders. One person tweeted, "Excellent idea! The more you drive, the more you pay. Seems like a fair proposal to me. The haters don't have an alternative and they'd rather see China racing us by apparently..."