Is Big Brother Trying To Make Your Cars Illegal?

For those of you that don’t know, the SEMA Action Network (SAN) is a nationwide partnership between enthusiasts, car clubs and members of the automotive specialty-equipment industry who have joined forces to promote hobby-friendly legislation, while opposing unfair legislation. With more than 39,000 members from all 50 states and Canada, the SAN is the premier organization defending the rights of vehicle enthusiasts. The SAN has proven to be effective through its members’ passionate response to the hundreds of federal and state bills that directly affect all aspects of the automotive hobby.

With that being said, SAN has brought to our attention, a few items that we need to understand.

Thanks to SEMA Action Network, enthusiasts of 30 year old cars can now enjoy the same benefits as those with older vehicles.

For those of you in Maryland, legislation (S.B. 782/H.B. 811) was trying to increase the age requirement for vehicles to be eligible for registration as “historic motor vehicles.” Luckily, the bill died when the legislature adjourned for the year. Under the House version of the bill, the age requirement would have been raised from 20 to at least 30 years old, making it more difficult to register legitimate historic vehicles, which are already limited to club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, and occasional pleasure driving.

The measure also would have denied all 20-30 year old vehicles certain benefits, including the special historic license plate, reduced registration fees, and exemptions from equipment and emissions inspection requirements. The bill sought to address unsubstantiated claims of abuse without providing any real data. The MVA is already authorized by regulation to suspend the registration of any historic vehicle for use that is inconsistent with the registration requirements.

Congrats to New Hampshire truck enthusiasts. If your truck is 25 or older, it can almost be classified as a Classic. Contact your Governor to make it happen.

If you live in New Hampshire, there was a bill to “include older trucks as antiques”, that was approved by Senate, and now moves on to the Governor. The legislation (H.B. 260) seeks to include trucks over 25-years old (regardless of weight) in the definition of eligible “Antique Motor Vehicles.” Since the bill was approved by the full New Hampshire Senate—and having already been approved by the House, the governor just needs to add her signature and enactment into law. DON’T DELAY! Please contact Governor immediately by phone or e-mail to request her support for H.B. 260.

http://www4.egov.nh.gov/nhgovernor/comments.asp

603/ 271-2121

Office of the Governor
State House
107 North Main Street
Concord, NH 03301

In Nevada, the fight continues.

Finally, Nevada has offered legislation (A.B. 326) to alter the requirements for vehicles eligible for registration as a “classic vehicle”. The requirement was amended and approved by the Nevada Assembly Transportation Committee, and the bill will now be sent to the floor of the Assembly for a vote by all members. Under this amendment, only vehicles manufactured prior to 1996 would be eligible for a classic vehicle registration. Currently, vehicles 25-years old and older are eligible. The bill also changes the depreciation schedule for the governmental services tax to provide that passenger vehicles and trucks will be valued at 10-percent less of their initial value than they are currently valued. A separate bill (A.B. 146) to repeal the emissions test exemption for all classic vehicles, classic rods, street rods and old timer vehicles was also approved. Under that bill, all vehicles manufactured before 1996 would instead be exempted.

These bills contain a mixture of pro and anti-hobby provisions. However, if A.B. 326 were to be enacted into law but A.B. 146 was not, this effort could be a disaster for the hobby.

We Urge You to Call Members of the Nevada Assembly (List Attached Below) Immediately to Voice Your Opinion on the Amended A.B. 326 and A.B. 146

While the reduced tax obligation is admirable, the amended A.B. 326 would deny future classics (1996 and newer) from ever being able to attain special vehicle registration status and the existing benefits.
While we support exempting all pre-1996 vehicles from emissions tests (currently, pre-1968 model year vehicles are exempted from emissions testing, which is only conducted in two counties), the amended A.B. 146 would require that all 1996 and newer vehicles to be emissions tested for the life of the vehicle without an opportunity to ever take advantage of the emissions exemptions currently provided for classic vehicles, classic rods, street rods and old timer vehicles.
While there are instances of abuse of the classic registration plate, the population of these vehicles is still not enough to cause any significant smog issue in the state. In fact, classic vehicles currently constitute less than 1.6-percent of the total vehicle population in Nevada! In seeking to punish the abusers, certain provisions in these bills will affect and inconvenience legitimate owners of classic vehicles in Nevada.

DON’T DELAY! Please contact members of the Nevada Assembly immediately by phone or e-mail to voice your opinion on the amended A.B. 326 and A.B. 146. Please e-mail a copy of your letter to Steve McDonald at [email protected]. Also, please forward this alert to your fellow car enthusiasts. Urge them to join the SAN and help defend the hobby! Thank you for your assistance.

Nevada State Assembly

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