IL Suspends Clean-Car Rebates; GA Tax Credit In Trouble Too; Texas Next?

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.)

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.