A invoice to take away all smog test necessities for automobiles 35 years and older was handed unanimously by the Meeting Transportation Committee this week, with the following hurdle being the difficult Meeting Appropriations Committee.
Senate Invoice 712, authored by Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), would particularly exempt a collector motorized vehicle from the smog test requirement if the automobile is no less than 35 mannequin years outdated. Nonetheless, concern over the environmental impression of SB 712, also called “Leno’s Regulation,” introduced forth a number of amendments to the invoice. These included mandating traditional automotive insurance coverage as a substitute of simply insuring the automobile as a collector motorized vehicle and requiring historic license plates.
Along with Grove’s backing, SB 712 obtained celeb help from former discuss present host and traditional automotive fanatic Jay Leno, giving the invoice extra clout. Each are pushing for the invoice as a result of present smog test necessities hinder traditional automotive homeowners, and the strict laws power many homeowners to look outdoors of California to extra traditional automotive pleasant states. At present there may be solely a partial smog test ban in place for automobiles made earlier than 1976, which limits how a lot Californians can drive some automobiles. In keeping with the invoice, there’s a extreme scarcity of smog check gear that may check older automobiles as nicely, with homeowners of automobiles constructed earlier than 12 months 2000 struggling to search out acceptable outlets. As well as, the aftermarket elements business has struggled in California in recent times, with a lot of their enterprise going towards making and supplying elements for older automobiles.
Desirous to cease traditional automotive homeowners from leaving the state, preserve California’s status as a traditional automotive state, and assist preserve the massive aftermarket elements business value billions, Grove introduced SB 712 to the Senate earlier this 12 months. Whereas the invoice sailed by means of Senate Committees with minimal opposition, issues over the invoice within the Senate resulted in a number of amendments, together with the addition of mandating traditional automotive insurance coverage and historic license plates. This motion erased most opposition to SB 712, passing final month.
Transferring On Up
There was some concern heading into the Meeting that the amendments nonetheless didn’t go far sufficient, and that extra must be tacked on over environmental issues. Nonetheless, these issues had been assuaged this week when the Meeting Transportation Committee voted 14-0 to cross the invoice, signaling that the Senate amendments had been sufficient.
“For over 20 years, traditional automotive lovers have labored alongside legislators to try to develop the variety of traditional automobiles eligible for a full smog test exemption, however each effort has stalled earlier than making it by means of the legislature,” mentioned Senator Grove earlier this week. “If Leno’s Regulation is handed and signed, even when it isn’t precisely what we initially needed, it gives 10 extra automobile mannequin years and is a step in the direction of defending traditional automobiles as part of our historical past.
“I’ll proceed to amplify the voices of collectors who merely wish to take pleasure in restoring and driving their automobiles on particular events, making certain it’s an affordable course of to protect California’s iconic automotive heritage. In California, change normally occurs slowly, and this invoice is actual progress towards defending traditional automobiles as a part of our historical past.”
SB 712 solely has a couple of main votes left this 12 months, with the Meeting Appropriations Committee vote and the complete Meeting vote the one ones left wanted to cross earlier than reaching the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom.
