This was the legislative hearing to discuss a possible income tax credit for WI residents purchasing new hybrid vehicles. The following is what I emailed to Bradlee yesterday, & he asked that I post it here as well.
I think it went very well - the committee members seemed to be in agreement that the tax credit is a good idea, in fact, one of the members owns a Highlander Hybrid, & another often drives his wife's Prius
It was much more relaxed & less intimidating than I expected.
There were 4 bills up for discussion - they took ours first, because apparently Rep. Parisi had a family obligation he needed to get to. He spoke about the bill, then answered questions from the committee - including one concerning a surcharge for hybrid vehicles, to pay for "their share" of the cost of our highways
Rep. Parisi's response was that they don't want to be punishing people for making more fuel-efficient choices
Chris Schneider & Eric both handled the more technical aspects of hybrid sales & use, & their effects on the state's economy & environment, & answered questions from the committee
Since I don't really have a technical turn of mind, I stayed with my strength, talking about my decision to buy a hybrid, in particular the FEH. I included the fact that, although I could have bought a GM vehicle at a family discount, thanks to my in-laws, I bought a FEH because it's a *real* hybrid. I commended Ford for their courage to put the first SUV - & the first American hybrid vehicle - into the mainstream marketplace, & said I wanted them to stay in business so that I could buy another one. (This got a laugh.) I had introduced myself at the beginning as speaking on behalf of the MiHG, & I told them how my FEH had led me to become involved with the group, which had in turn helped me, not only to make better use of my FEH (thus saving even *more* gas), but also made me more generally aware of other ways I can make my existence more environment-friendly. I used my experiences at the GMAS to illustrate how a lot of potential vehicle buyers feel that, while a hybrid vehicle would be a better choice, the extra cost is just out of their reach. I also talked about my sister-in-law, who makes more money than I do, but bought a Pontiac Vibe, because a hybrid vehicle was "too expensive" - & about a friend from Curves who bought a regular Escape, who, when we compared mpg's back when gas was >$3/gal., who said she wished they'd bought a FEH instead, but "we just could afford the extra $$". I finished by asking that they please help keep these vehicles on the market & on the road by passing this bill.
Several other people testified, including a representative of the American Lung Association, & a mother & son (the son had pushed her to buy a Prius because he didn't want to drive a straight ICE vehicle); other than one individual who wanted to have diesel vehicles included in the tax credit, everyone was in favor of the bill as it stood.
A representative of Ford testified "for information only" - she thanked me for my glowing support of the FEH
- & addressed "mild" vs "full" hybrids. She also responded to a question concerning highway mpg's & had those of us from the Mi- & MHG shaking our heads - she said that for those who do a lot of highway driving, a hybrid vehicle might not be the best choice. Eric was referred to in the course of this discussion, & mentioned his highway mileage in his Camry Hybrid (the number escapes me right now), & just before the next speaker was called, I raised my hand (hoping not to be too out-of-order) & told them about my 29.5mpg trip from Milwaukee to Madison, *into* ~30-mph winds in the not-very-aerodynamic FEH - I pointed out that this was still better than the best EPA estimate for the conventional Escape. One of the members responded that he had just bought a regular Escape, because he drives a lot of highway miles & he didn't think the hybrid would be an advantage. He said he got 21mpg on the highway, which wasn't bad (I wanted to point out that even my lower-than-average 29.5mpg was still almost 30% better than that, but kept my mouth shut
).
It was not quite 11:30 when discussion of "our" bill was declared closed. There were about 10 people who actually testified, & maybe another 10 who registered their support for the bill. When the committee moved on to the next agenda item, most of the "audience" left the hearing room
(Out in the hallway, the Ford representative gave me her card & told me that when I'm ready to buy my next FEH, I should call her, & she'll get me a discount
)
my FEH 
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