Support Legislation to Enact Preferred RUC Expansion Strategy (61)

Description:

Deploying a strong RUC expansion strategy is necessary for enabling and encouraging program growth. Where possible, legislation should support the preferred strategy. Supporting legislation for RUC expansion involves determining and implementing a legislative strategy to pass the legislation and enabling or mandating the RUC transition and growth strategy. This activity may mean modifying the transition strategy as it goes through the legislative process.

Details:

The lead and/or implementing RUC agency works with legislators to determine how to turn the preferred RUC strategy into law, and then supports the legislative process as needed and as appropriate to get the bill passed. This task involves politics, which should be handled by skilled government affairs professionals. The RUC agency should provide support to legislators when they request information. This task may involve providing data or research to legislators on short notice during the legislative session.

Primary Use:

Pass legislation enabling the RUC program to expand to include many or all vehicles in the state.

Best Practices/Lessons Learned:

  • Keep RUC transition bipartisan. While there may be opponents, RUC has bipartisan support.
  • Leverage lessons learned during the passage of the first RUC legislation and the implementation of the first RUC program to determine legislative strategy.
  • Having one or more legislative champions, ideally at least one in each legislative chamber, is very helpful and perhaps necessary for legislative success.
  • Leverage data, information, and research created during the initial RUC program to create information needed to pass legislation.
  • Have the financial and equity analyses ready to share with legislators.
  • With the support of legislative champions, identify potential opponents, listen to their concerns, and provide relevant data to handle advocacy. If needed, modify the proposed legislation to cover their concerns.
  • If any legal issues have emerged from the initial RUC program, use this opportunity to correct those issues.
  • Consider the politics of transitioning passenger vehicles and commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles separately. Transition plans for the two groups should likely be accomplished in separate bills.

State Government Context and Assumptions:

The lead and/or implementing RUC agencies support legislators to pass legislation.