OLYMPIA, WA – State lawmakers are considering a proposal that could lead to imposing fees on electric bikes to ensure that owners “pay their fair share” for using public roadways like other vehicles.

The Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 6110 on Monday. If approved, the proposal would clarify what’s considered an e-bike and direct a group to consider imposing regulations on owners. Those mandates could require insurance and the payment of registration and licensing fees.​

The idea follows a $4 million program that the state distributed last year to income-eligible applicants as instant rebates for e-bike purchases. However, those who received payments of $300 to $1,200 per person didn’t know that the state might later impose mandates on their taxpayer-subsidized bikes.

“I love e-bikes. I use them to get around town,” Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, said Monday, explaining her intent to address issues with electric motorcycles. “We don’t want other people getting hit, and I don’t really know what to do with them, so we thought the work group could look at them.”

There are three classifications of e-bikes. Class 1 includes e-bikes that assist riders only when pedaling up to 20 miles per hour. Class 2 includes bikes that can reach that same speed with an electric throttle and don’t require any pedaling. Class 3 includes e-bikes that only assist when pedaling up to 28 mph.​

SB 6110 would adjust the definitions to clarify that any bike capable of exceeding 20 mph solely from its electric motor is not considered an “electric-assisted bicycle.” It attempts to carve out brands such as Surron, which sell bikes, or e-motos, as Shewmake would call them, capable of exceeding 50 mph.​

The $4 million state rebate program only provided funding for Class 1, 2 and 3 e-bikes, not e-motos.

“This work group is going to look at mostly e-motos,” Shewmake said, “but I would argue that you can also get hurt on a regular bike, too, and so I’m not sure that e-bikes are quite as different as the e-motos.”

She said the e-moto definition needs work and would be one of the things the group addresses.

Other components include addressing whether e-motos should be subject to annual registration fees, whether they should be subject to special rules of the road, whether they require a driver’s license, a special permit, or a minimum age, whether driver’s license exams should include an e-bike or e-moto section, whether to penalize deceptive marketing practices and e-bike “tampering,” whether vendors sould provide special disclosure statements, and any other work that the group may deem necessary.

The proposal requires the group to submit a report about all that to the Legislature by Dec. 15, 2026.

“They’re taking our roadway, they’re taking space. I think they should pay their fair share. I think they should be insured,” Sen. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, said. “They’re completely unregulated, and this isn’t typically me, but I think as long as … we’re looking for revenue, they should pay their fair share.”

Harris said that several of his family members had injured themselves on e-bikes. The Republican Party is typically the one arguing against additional fees and mandates to balance spending, especially when the Democratic majority says that the wealthy should pay their “fair share.” However, he flipped the script.​

“The tires should be taxed, whatever we want to do on them,” Harris said. “They’re dangerous.”

Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, offered a different take, citing his love for e-bikes. He asked that the sponsor consider language around speed limits and expanding the group to include more stakeholders.

Several Lake Washington High School students, who helped draft SB 6110 as part of a class project, testified in support on Monday, along with elected officials from Kirkland and Mercer Island. They cited data showing that e-bike injuries increased from roughly 750 in 2017 to more than 23,000 in 2022.

Representatives of the Washington Recreation & Park Association, the Association of Washington Cities and Washington Bikes also testified in support. No one testified in opposition during Monday’s hearing.

Sen. John Lovick, D-Mill Creek, who serves as vice chair of the committee, said that 401 people signed in virtually in support of SB 6110, 67 did in opposition, and three individuals put “other” as a position.

“There’s a growing concern among cities around the safe operation of these vehicles, especially by youth,” AWC Government Relations Advocate Stephen Ellis testified. “We absolutely do not want to undermine the existing three classes of e-bicycles; we just want to make sure that these are safely operated.”