It passed 21-15. Many thanks to all of you who contacted your legislators.

WE CAN STILL DEFEAT THIS BILL!!!

If you want to see how your legislators voted, visit either of these two sites:

www.senate.ca.gov
www.assembly.ca.gov

Click on "legislation" and type "2683" into the bill box. From this page you can check the complete history including all votes in both houses of the legislature and all committees that reviewed the bill.

What we need to do now is FLOOD the governor's office with e-notes:

www.govmail.ca.gov

All of my previous arguments are applicable, and you can e-mail me (dukewilliams at netzero.net) for a MS Word file that has a full magazine of armor piercing ammuntion.

The governor has three choices. He can sign the bill into law, do nothing, and it will become law after a relatively short period of time, or he can VETO AB 2683!

I will be contacting the local manager of my Senator Bowen's 28th District office (She voted AGAINST it!) tomorrow morning to get a complete rundown of the governor's options and resulting outcomes and will post them as soon as I find out.

In the meantime, type in those notes to the governor and urge him to VETO AB 2683!

Duke

 

Remember as California goes, so goes the nation folks.

 

I just emailed our Governator....strongly encouraged him to Terminate the bill.

 

If bill is passed,me and 1000's of others will be in AZ and Nevada registering our muscle/classic/street rods.

 

How about a little political analysis!

Of the 15 senators who voted "Noe" on AB 2683, 14 are Republicans and one is a Democrat - Senator Debra Bowen who represents me in the 28th District. In fact, the entire Republican Caucus voted against AB 2683 and Senator Bowen was the only Democrat to join them.

The entire Democrat Causus with the exception of Senator Bowen (and three Democrats who were either absent, abstained, or did not vote) voted "Aye".

Senator Bowen's local office manager is the wife of my former city councilman who was instrumental in bringing an issue before the Redondo Beach city council at my behest that resulted in a new law that has considerably improved the quality of life for many Redondo Beach residents.

Bob and Arlene live about a block away from me, and I sometimes see them on my walks to the grocery store. For sure I want to give Arlene a big hug, and though I have never met Senator Bowen I'd like to give here a big hug, too! It takes courage to break with the party line!

Though I never knew how Senator Bowen would vote on this issue, she did write me a letter last year responding to my call to defeat SB 708 that proposed emission testing vintage cars back to the fiifties, and in that letter she indicated a strong support for vintage car owners and a belief that the 30 year emission test exemption strikes a good balance between air quality and the interests of vintage car owners.

Arlene set up a conference call with the ARB, which aided my fact finding and provided fuel for the cause against this bill.

This goes to show you that collectively and individually we CAN make a difference. Don't give up the ship. Fight! Fight! Fight! And remember who voted which way on this issue when you go to the polls in November!

Duke

 

Letter to the governator.... on my to do list. How much time do I have?

 

Message sent.

 

Message sent Thanks for the heads up

 

Since Massachusetts has its nose implanted in California's butt cheeks when it comes to emissions regulations I guess I better not throw my cat away just yet.

 

Here's the latest status as of about noon, Thursday, 8/26. I believe the following information is accurate, but could be subject to change.

The legislature has agreed to end the current biennial session tomorrow, Friday, 8/27, though they may end up working past midnight.

The Senate amendment, though not clear, appears to waive only the visual inspection requirement for cars over 35 years old, but they will still have to have a tailpipe test.

Because the Senate amended the bill, the Assembly must consider it again. If you go to the Legislation -2683 - Status or History section of www.assembly.ca.gov or www.senate.ca.gov you will see that the Assembly sent the bill back to the Senate as of yesterday without a vote. I have been unable to obtain any details of what is going on, but there is obviously some horsetrading in progress, and I believe the governor's office is involved.

IF AB 2683, in a common form, fails to achieve a majority by both the Senate and Assembly, it will die with the end of the current legislative session, tomorrow.

What's important now is to send another e-note. Use the "Comment" path after clicking on "Legislation" at www.assembly.ca.gov and copy and paste your comments onto and e-mail directly to your Senator and Assembly Member.

We all need to do this before we retire for the evening, today!

If AB 2683, in some common form, does receive a majority "Aye" vote in both houses within approximately the next 36 hours it will go to the governor.

The governor has three options:

1. Within 30 days, sign the bill into law
2. Within 30 days, veto the bill
3. Do nothing, after 30 days the bill becomes law

Duke

 

email sent

Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

At risk of sounding stupid, I don't know what that law does.

 

In short, it repeals California's current 30 year rolling smog exemption, and freezes it at 1975. All cars '76 and newer will now require biannual smog inspections indefinitely.


It's ludicrous though. Ten years from now how many 35+ years old cars will be driving enough miles to warrant smogging them? They'll either be cubes by then, or be sitting in a field, or be a hobby/collector vehicle that doesn't get driven much. CA legislature isn't cleaning up the environment, they're killing the car hobby with their ignorance.

 

BTW, any of you know what vehicles our Governor ownes, besides his Hummer?

I'm sure he's got a collection of some sort, so I want to appeal to that if I write him a letter (and if it actually ever gets to him). I bet his mail sorter is a liberal though.

 

Well, if I'm reading correctly, this is one of the ammendments that may be holding it up. It seems to loosen up the requirements some, but for me specifically, it's going to be a long time before my car is 35 years old.

This link will take you to what I believe is the current wording of the bill, as it sits now. http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/...ended_sen.html

The following cut and paste from the legislation posted on the web site



2)Exempt vehicles that meeting statutory definition of "collector motor vehicle," and are insured as such, from the Smog Check test involving a visual or functional check of emission control devices if the vehicle is at least 35 model years old, complies with applicable exhaust emission standards, and passes a functional inspection of its fuel cap and a visual inspection for liquid fuel leaks.

The following is the definition of "collector motor vehicle" also cut and pasted from the website.

(c) For purposes of subdivision (a), any collector motor vehicle,
as defined in Section 259 of the Vehicle Code, is exempt from those
portions of the test required by subdivision (f) of Section 44012 if
the collector motor vehicle meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Submission of proof that the motor vehicle is insured as a
collector motor vehicle, as shall be required by regulation of the
bureau.
(2) The motor vehicle is at least 35 model years old.
(3) The motor vehicle complies with the exhaust emissions
standards for that motor vehicle's class and model year as prescribed
by the department, and the motor vehicle passes a functional
inspection of the fuel cap and a visual inspection for liquid fuel
leaks.

 

If AB 2683 is defeated and the current rolling 30-year exemption remains in effect your car will be exempt from emission test requirements when it is 30 model years old. Under this current law, 1976 models will be exempt on January 1, 2005, which is about four months away. If AB 2683 passes, post-'75 model years will have to submit to biennial tailpipe tests every two years and meet whatever standards the BAR demands.

The amendment just waives the visual inspection for post 1975 cars that become 35 years old, but they will still have to pass tailpipe emission standards every two years in perpetuity.

Many C3 owners will be affected by AB 2683, and even if you don't think you will be affected, you may very well be, because if this bill passes you can be assured that future attempts to roll back emission testing to currently exempt model years are sure to follow in the next legislative session.

Beyond this, it's important for vintage car enthusiasts to support each other even if you do not think you will be personally affected.

Duke

 

Email Sent!!!!!

 

I feel sry for you guys from cali, my advice, get the heck out.

 

What is the purpose of demanding that vehicles meet the emissions standards of there production year. What if you have a vintage car and new technology ( fuel injection) allows you to both add power and run cleraner! Why should that be illegal? Any fuel injected crate motor will only reduce the emssions and mileage of any late smog C3. Hot rodder hobbyist should not be used as scape goasts for polititions for liberal votes.

 

The attempt to resurect smag rules after people were excused from them is a terrible unneeded nuisance for individual car owners and a real hardship for people who have businesses that provide services to vintage car owners. The draconian smog laws of the late 1970's and 1980's drove a lot of people out of business (performance shops, performance parts).

The California legislature has an agenda with a list of anti-this and anti-that themes. But this is a legislature that has passed bills twice in succession bills that would allow illegal immigrants to have drivers licenses. There's no legislative concern about setting these people loose without car insurance, nor no real concern about the perhaps 1.2 million drivers in the greater LA area without car insurance. There's a lot of cars on the road that are obviously violating state vehicular rules- tinted windows, no front license plates, no valid registration, NO license
plate at all, and I've seen highway patrol drive right by cars on the freeway that were blowing exhaust smoke.