PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Chapter 64H of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended in Section 1 by inserting after the definition of “Purchaser” the following definitions:

“Qualified Electric Vehicle” has the meaning stated in section thirty of the Internal Revenue Code,

“Qualified Hybrid Vehicle” means an automobile that (a) meets all applicable regulatory requirements, (b) meets the current vehicle exhaust standard set under the national low-emission vehicle program for gasoline-powered passenger cards; and (c) can draw propulsion energy from both of the following on-board sources of stored energy: gasoline: and a rechargeable energy storage system.

SECTION 2. Chapter 64H of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 2A the following new section: -

Section 2B. Notwithstanding the provisions of section two and section four of this chapter, the excise imposed upon the sale of any new passenger automobile, van or light truck in the Commonwealth shall be at a rate between zero and five percent of the gross receipts of the vendor for each such automobile, van, or light truck. The rate of excise imposed upon the sale of any qualified electric vehicle or qualified hybrid vehicle, as defined in section one of this chapter, shall be assessed at zero percent. The rate of excise tax imposed upon the sale of any new passenger automobile, van or light truck in the Commonwealth with fuel efficiency rating of 30 miles per gallon or greater for city driving and 35 miles per gallon or greater for highway driving shall be assessed at two percent. The rate of excise imposed upon the sale of all other new passenger automobiles, van, or light trucks in the Commonwealth shall be assessed at five percent.

A seller of any new passenger automobile, van or light truck in the Commonwealth shall prominently display on the vehicle the appropriate excise tax rate for the vehicle. The commissioner of energy resources shall cause periodic inspections to be made of motor vehicle dealers in order to ensure compliance with this section. The commissioner shall report the results of any inspections or investigations to the attorney general. The attorney general may institute proceedings to enforce the provisions of this section.

Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the provisions of chapter ninety three A. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be punishable be a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each offense or as provided in chapter ninety three A, whichever is greater. Each violation of this section shall constitute a separate offense, and each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.

The commissioner of revenue and the commissioner of energy resources shall monitor the effects of the excise established herein on motor vehicle sales in the Commonwealth and on revenue yields, and by December thirty first of each year shall file with the house and senate committees on ways and means reports on the status of the goals of this program.

The provisions of this section shall take effect for all sales of new passenger automobiles, vans, and light trucks occurring on or after September first, two thousand and five.

SECTION 3. Section 3 of chapter 64H of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following:

(c) The excise imposed by section two B upon sales at retail of motor vehicles shall be paid by the purchaser to the registrar of motor vehicles in the manner prescribed by the commissioner of revenue. The vendor therefore shall not add the tax to the sales price and shall not collect the tax from the purchaser. The vendor thereof shall, however, furnish to the purchaser, to the registrar, and to said commissioner a sworn statement of the sale upon a form prescribed by said commissioner, with the approval of the commissioner, giving such information as the commissioner may require for the determination of such tax. Any person giving false or fraudulent information to any material fact in the sworn statement required by this section shall be subject to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for each violation; such penalty shall be in addition to any penalty imposed by chapter 62 C, chapter ninety three A, or other provisions of the General Laws. For the purpose of this paragraph. The term “motor vehicle” means any self propelled vehicle designed for use and used primarily upon the highways.

SECTION 4. The first sentence of section 4 of chapter 64H, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking the word “For” in line 1, and inserting in place thereof the following words:--Except for the tax imposed by section two B, for.

SECTION 5. The first sentence of section 2 of chapter 64I of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended bay inserting, in line 5, after the work “services”, the following words:-- provided, however, that notwithstanding the provisions of section five of this chapter, in the case of a passenger automobile, van or light truck, the applicable rate shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of section two B of chapter sixty four H.

SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 64I is herby amended by adding at the end of the second paragraph, in line 36, the following:--

Any person giving false or fraudulent information as to any material fact in the sworn statement required by this section shall be liable for a penalty of not more the five hundred dollars for each violation; such penalty is to be in addition to any penalty imposed by chapter sixty two C, chapter ninety three A, or other provisions of the General laws.

SECTION 7. Motor vehicles owned and operated by the commonwealth, as they are removed from service, shall only be replaced with vehicles that have above average fuel efficiency for new vehicles in their size classes as determined by the commissioner of energy resources or with alternative fuel vehicles as defined by said commissioner, provided that said commissioner has determined that such purchases of alternative fuel vehicles will be cost-effective and will result in net improvements in air quality in comparison with comparable conventional fuel vehicles. The commissioner of energy resources may grant a waiver form the requirements of this section for any vehicle that the commonwealth needs to purchase where such a waiver is necessary to protect the public safety.

SECTION 8. Purchasers of vehicles that meet the definition of “fuel efficient vehicle” in Section 2, above, shall also be eligible to use designated HOV lanes throughout the Commonwealth.

SECTION 9. The Registry of Motor Vehicles shall be directed to offer a fifty percent discount on vehicle registration fees to purchasers of vehicles meeting the definition of “fuel efficient vehicle” under the above referenced section 2.

SECTION 10. The directors of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Port Authority shall be directed to establish a program offering a fifty percent reduction in all toll charges to purchasers of vehicles meeting the definition of “fuel efficient vehicles” in the aforementioned section 1, above.

SECTION 11. The commissioner of the department of revenue will report to the senate and house chairs of the respective committees on ways and means the fiscal impact of the reduced registry fees and the discount on tolls. The secretary of transportation will similarly report on the impact of “fuel efficient vehicle use” of the commonwealth’s HOV lanes