Does your state charge you a fee for each mile you drive?
Oregon has done so since 2015, Utah since 2020, and more states plan to follow suit.
There's one problem. The so-called mileage tax is clearly unconstitutional.
The right to travel freely is a fundamental right. Therefore, it is protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Section 2.13002 of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Agreement includes a provision that introduces a per-mile federal user fee for passenger car drivers and requires automakers to build driver monitoring technology. It is mandatory.
How does the government check your mileage? Look no further than your smartphone. Your smartphone can tell you where you are and how fast you are going. Oh, I hear you 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 on both gasoline and electric cars (and motorcycles) in order to charge Californians 3 cents for every mile driven.
Don't worry. These new tracking devices will stop charging as soon as you leave the state. Honest.
Newsom claims his new by-the-mile system will allow the state to eliminate the gas tax, but don't hold your breath. In any case, this mileage tax should not be controversial at all in any state.
In the decision of 1868 Crandall v. Nevadathe Supreme Court held that states cannot impose taxes or regulations that burden an individual's right to travel freely, including the means of travel. The case specifically addresses Nevada's attempts to tax individuals who leave the state by various means of transportation, including stagecoaches and steamboats.
The right to travel freely is a fundamental right. Therefore, it is protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The court's reasoning was based on the principle that such a tax would violate fundamental rights and exceed the limits of the state's taxing powers.
All citizens have the right to free movement, so states cannot impose taxes that prevent people from leaving their homes.
The bottom line is that the government has no right to charge by the mile, no matter what lawmakers think. But legal minutiae are of little interest to budding authoritarians looking to extract more cash from their subjects.
Now is the time to fight back against these laws before our rights as drivers and citizens are further eroded.
