Sb 708

[Allan A]

Here is the response I received from Senator Florez. It appears that they have gone back and made modifications to get this passed. Since I will not drive my Cobra more than 12,000 miles a year I could live with this. However I think it is the first round and next year they will change it to 6,000 miles and so on.

"Thank you for contacting my office and sharing your thoughts on SB708. In
January of this year, I was appointed Chairman of the Senate Select
Committee on Air Quality in the Central Valley. To date, the committee has
conducted four hearings and nine more are scheduled to be held this year.
After all the hearings, a report to the legislature will be submitted
detailing the committee's findings from the hearings.

Why have I undertaken this initiative to clean up our air? Air pollutants
in the San Joaquin Valley have gone up 17 percent in the last three years
alone. According to the Los Angeles Times, air pollution is to blame for
more deaths in the San Joaquin Valley in the last three years than car
accidents and murders combined. The San Joaquin Valley has surpassed Los
Angeles as the worst air basin in the state and the second worst in the
country. The asthma rate for children in Fresno County is the highest in
California - twice that of Los Angeles and triple the national average.
Without swift and decisive intervention, this problem promises to escalate
into a public health crisis, if it isn't already.

In response to this, I have introduced ten bills targeted at cleaning the
air in the San Joaquin Valley. SB708 is one of those bills. Unfortunately,
what much of the public does not understand is that SB708 is a work in
progress, and amendments have been written since the original version was
first circulated. Our bill has two important objectives. First and
foremost, I want to get the worst gross polluters off the road, to mitigate
ozone emissions into the air. Second, I am working hard to preserve and
protect the rights of car owners who keep well-maintained older vehicles,
many of them classic cars, as enacted in SB 42.

SB708, with our most recent amendments, will require vehicles over 30 years
old which are driven 12,000 or more miles a year to get a smog check. Cars
which are not used as a primary vehicle, driven on a dailty basis, should
not fall under this definition. The collector car industry representatives
we have worked with so far agree that this is a fair compromise which
protects collectors and hobbyists, while cutting down on auto emissions.

My staff and I have worked diligently on this issue. We have conducted more
than 30 hours of meetings on the subject, returned hundreds of phone calls
and collaborated with prominent people within the classic car industry -
even Jay Leno himself. Steve Davis, one of the leaders of the initiative
that became SB42, has worked closely with our office to craft SB708 in a way
that protects the classic car hobbyist and targets only gross polluters. We
are confident that the amended SB708 will prevent gross polluters from
taking advantage of SB42 and undermining the purpose of the 30-year rolling
exemption.

I thank you for your input and your willingness to participate in our
effotrs to clean the San Joaquin Valley air basin.

[jpk]

Originally posted by Allan A

.... According to the Los Angeles Times, air pollution is to blame for
more deaths in the San Joaquin Valley in the last three years than car
accidents and murders combined........

I would normally question this kind of an assertion, and ask for some kind of peer reviewed scientific proof. But if it's "according to the Los Angeles Times", then I'll take it as fact and trade all my cars in for bicycles. CRETINS.

joe kennedy

[Ron61]

Allan,

Gee isn't it funny that we both got exactly the same response from Flores. Most likely a computer generated form letter. I received mine when I logged on this morning. I still think making the big companies like one here meet the emission requirements instead of selling them the right to exceed the requirements by X number fo tons would help more than taking all the cars off the road.

Ron

[Jamo]

LA Times?????!!!!!

They think our Valley fog is smog...just a slight mixup.

[Allan A]

This issue obviously has hit the hart of the car crazy people out west. Jay Leno did not want to spend millions on his collection to update, he should have been talking about this on his show everynight!

Allan

[TerrysSPF]

I don't get it. For years California has had the strongest emissions standards in the entire country, yet Senator Florez says that the asthma rate in Fresno County is 3 TIMES the national avg. and San Joaquin Valley has the worst air in the state and the 2nd worst in the country!?!
Jeeeez, maybe it's not the cars - huh? Oh well. At least it looks like Jay Leno is saying something about it.......and we all know money $ talks! Maybe the trick to keeping your cars is to contribute to the DNC?

[NROTOXIN]

Here is the amended version of SB708
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/s...ended_sen.html

[Ron61]

NROTOXIN,

I printed out an amended version of SB-708 a couple of days ago and I still can't get any answer from my Senator on a couple of things. Notice it says any vehicle MANAFACTURED prior to 1974. Also I still read it to do away with SB-100. My questions are this.

1. Does it do away with SB-100 altogether ?

2. What about special construction cars registered under SB-100. None of them were MANAFACTURED prior to 1974.

3. How do you go about registering a Cobra or any other special construction car in Calif. once SB-708 is signed ?

4. Can you give me the answers to these questions or find them out from your representatives ?

Thanks,

Ron

[sexzsn8k]

I to, just called Senator Florez` office and talked to Larkin Tackett, a staff member. I informed him of my concerns about the "Specially Constructed Vehicle" not being under the 12,000 mile exemption. I stated that there are a large number of kit cars in Calif and there needs to be an ammendment to the SB708 bill, section C, iii to either allow us to be smogged under the year that SB100 sets forth or to be allowed to piggyback on the 12,000 mile usage clause. He is checking into this and will get back to me with any new developments. I implore all of you that frequent this web site to call Senator Florez` office at (916) 445-4641 and make your intentions know. The more we rattle this tree, the more they will realize that it is not as complete as is required to be passed.

[NROTOXIN]

Ron,
Where did you get this info a couple of days ago?.....other than the e-mails sent out to everyone, this just posted this morning. I have no clue about the final out come of this cluster f&*K. I have an SPF and I to have made my calls/e-mails.

just a wait n

curtis

[Harris]

Brothers, In the last week I have contacted my local assemblymen and just got off the phone with Mr. Flores' office.

I implore each and everyone of you with a vested interest in 708 to contact your California legislatures/assemblymen and express your resentmen to this mindless bill.

Larry Harris

[DaveR]

Do we have any answers to the SB100 versus SB708 question yet?

[Ron61]

NROTOXIN,

I got my latest copy of the amended bill from the WWW.sen.ca.gov site. Go there and click on Legislation and then you can put in the number of any bill you want to look at and it brings it up. I have called Flores office five times and have yet to get to talk to Larkin Tackett and the ones that answer the phone won't talk about SB-708. They just tell me they don't know and Tackett will call me back which he doesn't. I just tried again right now and the same crap. I got a very little information from a friend in Sac. who works at the capitol but he can't find out much either. It seems they do not want to tell anything specific about this bill until Davis signs it. All of what I have gotten so far is just a big run around and when I asked straight out what happens to SB-100 the person that I was talking to just shurged his shoulders and said I guess it is gone but don't know for sure. How can these people vote on bills and not even know what they are or do ? I have sent so many e-mails and called so many people that I think I am probably on the Sacramento ignore list now. I started my complaining almost two months ago when this bill first came up for reading into the record. I don't know what else to do, but I do fear that if this bill isn't farther amended to specifically exempt all special construction cars and SB-100 the days of any type of street rod or Cobra or any other car not built by a manafacturer such as GM, Ford, & etc. are numbered in this state. Man, do I ever hope that I am really wrong about all of this but the refusal of any of these people to call back, or tell me anything when I do get hold of one of them really doesn't sound good to me.

Ron

[weekendwarrior]

I got this reply from my Tom McClintock. He seems to be a friendly, I will email him on the SB100 issue and see if I can get any info.

Dear Gary:

First, thank you for your e-mail and you can be 100% assured that I will vote no on this bill and do all I can to defeat it in the California Legislature. In the past, as you might know, I have always voted no on all such bills. I am the Vice-Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and I have always opposed such bills when they are heard in that Committee. I have written extensively on transportation issues and those writings can be found on my website at www.sen.ca.gov/mcclintock. Take care, Tom McClintock

[Ron61]

Weekendwarrior,

At least you have someone who sounds as if they have a brain. Please e-mail me or post whatever you can find out about SB-708 and what effect it has on SB-100 and the special construction cars as a whole. I am so tired of politicians and lies that I am ready to just drive my car over the canyon wall and tell them there it is.

Thanks,

Ron

[sexzsn8k]

I again called Senator Florez's office and ask for Larkin. The lady that answered informed me he was out and would be back shortly. I told her that I had called before about SB708 and let her know that there is a large group of us that are concerned with this bill and how it effects the SB100 bill and that it was not acceptable that individuals that leave messages are not receiving return calls. I told her that we are the voting public and would she please pass this message on to Larkin. Hope it does some good for you out there.

[Ron61]

Thanks for trying to get them to return a call. I have called twice now today and they still won't return a call and Tackett is always "on another line but will call you right back". As soon as they realize I am not in his district I think they just forget about my calls. And they sure haven't answered any of the e-mails I have sent trying to get some straight answers. I am starting to wonder if Flores even knows what that bill does.

Ron

[Mark Husar]

I just got back from the Carmichael D.M.V.
I am waiting to complete the registration of my cobra until the dust clears and I know where we as an organization of car lovers stand.
My main concern is as follows:
1. If I complete the registration with my sb1578 exemption will this carry forward to the next buyer who may purchase my car?
DMV answer: We don't know
2. If I complete the registration of my cobra and the 708 is enacted, will I have to smog my car in two years to the current standards?
DMV answer: We can't say.
3. Can I have all my money (close to 2 grand) back and I will change my residency to my home in Arizona or Portland and I will register my car there?
DMV answer: NO! You forfeit all monies paid thus far.

As you can tell... as I see it the writing is on the wall for me. There is to much gray area here to make me comfortable losing my Texas title to the car (1966 ford Comp Car) to get the 2001 title here in Calif. The difference is the registration costs and insurance cost of a 1966 vs. a 2001 automobile and the fact that I may not be able to pass smog in a few years.
I am going to give it some time and research before I move but I see it coming soon.
Mark

[CRZN427]

I sent an e-mail to my representatives, Assemblyman and State Senator.

I got a letter in response, dated March 24, from my Assemblyman, Able Maldonado, as follows:

"I appreciate your taking time to contact my office to express your oposition to Senate Bill 708 (Florez), which requires older cars and trucks to comply with state air-emission standards through the Smog Check program, but continues an exemption for vehicles older than 45 years. Your concerns on this issue are important to me.

For your information, this measure has been referred to the Senate Transportation Committee but does not have a hearing date. Should SB 708 be approved by the full Senate it will come to the Assembly for our action. I will keep your correspondence on file for reference should I have an opportunity to vote on this bill.

Again, thank you for your e-mail."


I haven't received a letter back from my Sentator, but I did get this e-mail response:

"Thank you for taking time to contact my office. Because I receive a large volume of email, I am only able to respond to my constituents in the 15th Senate District. If your email requires a response, please include your name and address and you will be hearing from me shortly. If you do not live in the 15th Senate District, I recommend you contact your State Senator www.sen.ca.gov or Assemblymember www.asm.ca.gov.

In the meantime, I encourage you to visit my website at
www.sen.ca.gov/mcpherson. There you will find numerous resources including legislation and my work in the Senate. For information about the 2003-04 Budget, I recommend these useful websites: www.lao.ca.gov and www.dof.ca.gov.

Thank you again for your concerns and comments.

Sincerely,

Bruce McPherson
Senator, 15th Senate District"


I am not sure my Assemblyman feels as I do on this issue, and until I get a response from the Senator his feelings are in the dark!!

More expression of concern is needed!!!

[NROTOXIN]

Next hearing date is 4/29/03