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H 7578Government Assets

State Affairs and Government - Motor Vehicles Owned by a Governmental Body

Requires the state to report detailed data and costs on the types of vehicles, including electric ones, in its fleet.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 6, 2026Committee House State Government & Elections

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends current laws regarding state-owned vehicles to specifically track environmental data. It defines "Zero-Emission vehicle" (ZEV) and expands the annual reporting requirements for the Director of Administration. The updated report must now include a breakdown of the state's fleet by engine type, distinguishing between combustion engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and ZEVs. Additionally, the report must analyze new vehicle purchases, the percentage of the fleet comprising each vehicle type, and the comparative cost-per-mile for operating these different types of vehicles across state agencies.

For younger readers

The state government owns many cars for workers to use. This new rule says the people in charge must make a list every year describing the engines in these cars. They have to say if the cars run on gas, electricity, or both. They also have to figure out how much money it costs to drive each type of car for every mile. This helps the state understand if they are buying enough clean cars and how much they cost to run compared to regular cars.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Department of AdministrationState EmployeesAuto ManufacturersEnvironmental AdvocatesTaxpayers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes transparency regarding the state's environmental footprint by requiring detailed reporting on the ratio of zero-emission vehicles versus combustion engines in the government fleet.
  • Encourages the adoption of green technology by highlighting data that could demonstrate the long-term cost savings and efficiency of electric vehicles compared to traditional gas vehicles.
  • Facilitates accountability in government spending and climate goals by mandating specific metrics on fleet modernization and pollution reduction efforts within state agencies.
  • Lacks a mandate to actually purchase zero-emission vehicles, merely requiring the reporting of data rather than enforcing a transition to a green fleet.
  • Does not explicitly allocate funding to replace aging combustion engine vehicles with zero-emission alternatives, potentially resulting in data collection without immediate action.
  • Focuses reporting metrics on the "light-duty fleet," potentially overlooking pollution data from heavy-duty state vehicles or construction equipment.
For Conservatives
  • Increases fiscal transparency by requiring a detailed breakdown of the cost-per-mile for state vehicles, allowing taxpayers to see exactly how much money is being spent on maintenance and operations.
  • Provides data that could expose inefficiencies or high costs associated with specific vehicle types, potentially preventing wasteful spending on unproven technologies if they prove too expensive.
  • Ensures better oversight of government assets by mandating a comprehensive annual report on the usage, commuting miles, and maintenance records of the state's fleet.
  • Increases administrative burden and bureaucracy by requiring state employees to spend additional time and resources compiling detailed statistics on vehicle engine types and mileage costs.
  • Could be used as a precursor to justify future mandates for expensive electric vehicles, regardless of whether they are practical for specific government functions.
  • Expands the scope of government reporting requirements without identifying a clear funding source to pay for the administrative labor needed to generate these reports.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 21 additions

SECTION 1. Sections 42-11.3-1 and 42-11.3-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-11.3 entitled "Motor Vehicles Owned by a Governmental Body" are hereby amended to read as follows: 42-11.3-1. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings unless otherwise specified:

(1) “Commuting” means driving a motor vehicle owned by a governmental body to and from the work place and the employee’s residence.

(2) “Employee” means an individual who works for a governmental body not less than thirty-five (35) hours a week.

(3) “General officer” means the governor, the lieutenant governor, the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the general treasurer. (4)(i) “Governmental body” means any department, commission, council, board, bureau, committee, institution, legislative body, agency, government corporation, including, without limitation, the council on postsecondary education and council on elementary and secondary education or other establishment of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the state.

(ii) “Governmental body” also means the Rhode Island industrial recreational building authority, the Rhode Island commerce corporation, the Rhode Island industrial facilities corporation, the Rhode Island refunding bond authority, the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation, the Rhode Island solid waste management corporation, the Rhode Island public transit authority, the Rhode Island student loan authority, the Howard development corporation, the water resources board, the Rhode Island health and education building corporation, the Rhode Island turnpike and bridge authority, the Blackstone Valley district commission, the Narragansett Bay water quality management district commission, Rhode Island telecommunications authority, the convention center authority, channel 36 foundation, their successors and assigns, and any other body corporate and politic that has been here before or that is hereinafter created or established within this state excepting cities and towns.

(5) “Law enforcement officer” means an individual: (i) who is employed on a full-time basis by a governmental body that is responsible for the prevention or investigation of crime involving injury to persons or property (including the apprehension or detention of persons for such crimes); (ii) who is authorized by law to carry firearms, execute search warrants, and to make arrests (other than merely a citizen’s arrest); and (iii) who regularly carries firearms (except when it is not possible to do so because of the requirements of undercover work). The term law enforcement officer shall include an arson investigator if the investigator otherwise meets these requirements.

(6) “Own” means control and the intent to control and includes any type of arrangement, including by way of illustration, and not by limitation, a lease arrangement, whereby an employee of a governmental body is supplied principal or exclusive use of a motor vehicle by the employee’s employer.

(7) "Zero-Emission vehicle" or "ZEV" means a vehicle that produces zero exhaust emission of any criteria pollutant or precursor pollutant or greenhouse gas, excluding emissions from air conditioning systems, under any possible operational modes or conditions. 42-11.3-5. Annual report.

(a) The director of administration shall annually in the month of January submit a report to the house fiscal advisory staff and the senate fiscal advisory staff on motor vehicles owned by a governmental body. The report shall identify the vehicle, and whether the vehicle is combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or ZEV, the principal driver of the vehicle, the mileage incurred by the vehicle during the previous calendar year, the miles attributable to commuting in the previous calendar year, the maintenance record and cost of maintenance of the vehicle during the previous year, as well as the same information collected from each hybrid, combustion engine, plug-in hybrid, and ZEV vehicle and such other information as the director of administration requires.

(b) The report pursuant to subsection (a) shall also provide the total number of new vehicles purchased in the light-duty fleet in the previous year, and specify the total number of newly purchased combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles and ZEV. The report shall also include the percentage of hybrid, combustion engine, plug-in hybrid, and ZEV new vehicles purchased with regard to the total number of vehicles in the light-duty fleet existing at year end, and the total per mile cost for each vehicle and the total average cost per vehicle mile for all vehicles of similar drive mechanisms or category of combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and ZEV, including the percentage of hybrid, combustion engine, plug-in hybrid, and ZEV vehicles in the total light-duty fleet. The report shall also include the number of hybrid, combustion engine, plug-in hybrid, and ZEV vehicles in operation in each state agency shown as a percentage of the whole light duty fleet.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.