I heard from my friend Eddie B. today that AB 1740 (bill to add 250 sequence numbers to SB 100) failed. Not surprising, but kudos to the Hot Rod guys who made a valiant effort to try and get support for the bill. Also, thanks to all who wrote, emailed, or called their representative to support the bill.
Here's the email that I received from Eddie (long):
"Sorry gang, we lost it. Here's the official response...
FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION:
Today, AB 1740 (Jeffries), relating to increasing the number of annual kit car registrations from 500 to 750, failed on a party line vote, 3-5. Three Republicans, Vice-Chair Bob Huff (Diamond Bar), Tom Harman (Huntington Beach), and Roy Ashburn (Bakersfield) voted in favor of the measure. Five Democrats, Chair Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach), Christine Kehoe (San Diego), Fran Pavley (Santa Monica), Mark DeSaulnier (Walnut Creek) and Joe Simitian (San Jose) voted against the bill.
Assemblyman Jeffries, using arguments compiled from many in the kit car community, cited the fact that these 250 additional kit cars were a minuscule amount of cars compared to the nearly 23 million registered cars in California. Other witnesses from the community worked to debunk the Democratic assumption that there is a ‘typical’ kit car; these witnesses clearly explained that cars range in price from $10,000 to well in excess of that. The witnesses expressed the views of many- that, as a hobby, kit cars are more works of art, and can not be defined as ‘typical’ by any means.
In committee, Chairman Lowenthal suggested that instead of increasing the limit to 750, kit cars could simply be retrofitted with modern emissions controls or use a modern ‘green’ engine developed by General Motors. The California Air Pollution Control Officers Association cited California Air Resources Board (CARB) studies that claimed that the ‘typical’ kit car polluted 200 times more than a regular 2005 model year car. The representative from CARB cited their ‘statistics’ claiming that most of the recent cars registered under the SB 100 exemptions were high polluting, large model engines. Senator Kehoe, also citing the fact that retro fits and emissions controls were available for kit cars, announced that she would be unable to support AB 1740.
Unfortunately, this negative vote in the Senate Transportation Committee marks the end of the road for this bill. With the bill 2 votes short of passage and no Democratic Senators willing to vote for the bill (or suggest any amendments that would allow them to vote for the bill) AB 1740 will not advance any further this year. Assemblyman Jeffries is committed to working on this issue again next year- whether the bill takes a form similar to this or something a bit different.
I personally want to thank each of you who have invested so much time and energy in this bill. AB 1740 would not have advanced this far without your dedicated hard work and outstanding perseverance. Many of you gathered signed letters, made phone calls and contacted elected officials. Thank you for your efforts and passion for your hobby.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Please feel free to contact me with any bill ideas for the next legislative cycle, or if you have any questions about the legislative process. Thank you again for your outstanding efforts.
Andrew Shedlock
Office of Assemblymember Kevin Jeffries
Dave Schaub did an excellent job of presenting our case, as did Assemblyman Jeffries, Dave Cahill from the NSRA, and Bob Stearns of the ACCC. My sincere thanks to all of them for sticking it out through a several hour delay.
What this shows, is how far off the path things have gotten. When you can't get a measly 250 more cars per year registered, in a State with 30 million, something just ain't right. We had thousands of supporters, but there are tens of thousands of car enthusiasts. There needs to be a way to connect and support these issues when they arise. Something to think about.
Later in the hearing, the amnesty bill AB-2461 (revised version of AB-619
http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/Bills/AB_2461/) sailed through the committee unopposed. This is a SEMA sponsored bill, look it up and read it for yourselves, and draw your own conclusions. I am concerned, that it could be amended into a monster before they're finished.
My sincere thanks to all of you that took the time to get involved.
EddieB."