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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Finds Bipartisan Support from IN Lawmakers

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Tuesday, February 15, 2022   

With $100 million in federal funding on the way, Indiana lawmakers are laying the groundwork for a new, statewide electric vehicle-charging network.

The Biden-Harris administration is allocating $5 billion over the next five years to create a nationwide system of charging stations, to help encourage electric vehicle use across the nation.

Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, lead sponsor of a bill outlining how Indiana's charging network could operate, said the proposal is just a starting point.

"This is an iterative bill, this is not a complete answer to how we're going to handle electric vehicles," Soliday explained.

Among other things, the legislation sets standards for pricing at charging stations, and establishes new parameters the state utility commission must consider when approving new charging-station projects. The measure has bipartisan support in the General Assembly, where it has passed several committees and the House of Representatives with unanimous votes.

The bill also would allow private companies to launch pilot charging networks for public-use electric vehicles, such as school buses. Utilities could recoup the cost of the pilot networks by raising their base charges to customers.

Kerri Garvin, executive director of the nonprofit Greater Indiana Clean Cities, said the pilot programs could streamline bigger projects down the line.

"Pilots allow companies and stakeholders to evaluate the feasibility, design, associated costs and benefits for larger-scale deployments," Garvin pointed out.

According to the Pew Research Center, electric vehicle sales in the U.S. doubled from 2020 to 2021, and carmakers are planning to put an additional one million electric vehicles on the road before year's end. The transportation sector accounts for nearly a third of America's greenhouse-gas emissions.


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