State tax credits and purchase rebates have proven effective in kickstarting the early market for plug-in electric cars and other green vehicles.

But they don't last forever, as buyers in Illinois and Georgia are learning; the Ilinois program has been suspended, and Georgia seems likely to kill off its program as well.

Then there's Texas, where a purchase-rebate program expires exacly three months from now.

DON'T MISS: Bill To Kill Georgia's Electric-Car Tax Credit Rises From The Dead (Feb 2015)

In Illinois, Governor Bruce Rauner is under extreme pressure to close a $1.6 billion deficit in the current budget, some of it due to income-tax cuts that took effect January 1st.

His resulting Executive Order stopped all "non-essential" state spending, and has resulted in thousands of job cuts since the governor took office.

The spending cuts are widespread, involving multiple agencies, programs, and grants--and include a suspension of the state's $4,000 clean-vehicle purchase rebate.

(The rebate was actually $4,000 or 10 percent of the vehicle's purchase price, whichever was lower.)

2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, 2013 Wheego LiFe electric cars [photo: Jen Danziger]

2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, 2013 Wheego LiFe electric cars [photo: Jen Danziger]

It's worth noting that Normal, Illinois, is one of the most electric-car friendly towns in the Midwest, known for its dozens of Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric minicars. (There's a Mitsubishi plant in Normal.)

The state's current round of rebates for installation of electric-car charging stations ends on April 14, and is also not likely to be renewed.

Then, in Georgia, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the Georgia Senate  has approved a transportation funding bill that kills the state's $5,000 income-tax credit for purchase or lease of battery-electric cars.

Georgia state capitol (pic by Andre M. via Wikimedia)

Georgia state capitol (pic by Andre M. via Wikimedia)

Efforts to repeal the credit have been ongoing for more than a year, led by a legislator who says he supports electric vehicles but doesn't feel they should be subsidized by the state's taxpayers.

The bill goes further, though, imposing a $200 annual registration surcharge on electric cars for personal use, and $300 for commercial registrations.

While the Georgia House is considering a different version of the bill, it too contains the same provisions for killing the credit and imposing the surcharge.

MORE: Electric Vehicles Come Out Ahead Of Gas Cars On Taxes--Except In One State

That surcharge could mean Georgia joins Virginia as the sole states in which drivers of plug-in electric cars pay more in taxes to their state governments than do drivers of conventional gasoline cars.

Finally, in Texas, the state's purchase rebate program for electric cars will expire on June 26.

As of Monday, the program had $4.9 million remaining of its original allocation of $7.7 million.

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]

Texas provides a $2,500 rebate for the purchase or four-year lease of a battery-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, with lower amounts for two- and three-year leases.

The relatively generous remaining allocation may be due, in part, to the state's franchise law, among the strictest in the nation, that forbids Tesla from selling cars in Texas.

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