Images: SEMA

As the summer heat blisters on the Specialty Equipment Market Association is busy fighting for legislative fairness for hot rod enthusiasts. Check out what SEMA has been up to in this month’s Law & Order recap below!

With summer not only being the prime time to break out those hot rods and vintage classics, but also the season in which most legislatures adjourn for the year, SEMA has had its hands full the last couple of months with last-minute legislation decisions being made nation wide. Unfortunately, even though there was a push for certain bills to be considered not all of them got a yea or nay before certain legislatures adjourned.

A number of the bills that died upon legislative adjournment come out of Maryland this last month including a SEMA-supported bill asking for the issuance of single license plates for historic vehicles. An additional Maryland bill that died in the last month was a SEMA-opposed bill proposing to up the minimum age requirement for historic vehicles from 20 years to 25 years.

Another state legislation that has already adjourned for the year is that of West Virginia. A handful of notable bills died because of the end of the legislative year. These bills included: a SEMA-supported bill to exempt historic vehicles from all fees and taxes, a similar SEMA-supported bill that would have exempted vehicles 25 years and older from property taxes, and a bill that would have allowed historic vehicle owners to use aftermarket or modified exhaust systems as long as they complied with a certain decibel limit.

In states that have yet to adjourn for the year many trends have appeared for the summer. The first trend has to do with license plates.

In Wisconsin, legislation was introduced and approved that allows vehicles from the 1979 model year or before to display year-of-manufacture plates while being driven to or from a car show or parade, although current plates must also be present in the vehicle. Approved by both House and Senate, this bill now moves to be signed into law.

In Alabama, legislation has been introduced that would allow vintage vehicle owners to maintain permanent vintage license plates but pay regular licensing taxes and fees to be able to operate their historic vehicle for normal transport. Currently, Alabama allows vintage vehicle owners to obtain vintage plates for their vehicle, but only if they are used primarily as a collectors item and not driven regularly.

In Michigan, historic military vehicles will no longer be required to display a license plate if they were not originally manufactured with a proper bracket. Under the new law, however, historic military vehicles without exterior plate brackets will still have to carry a plate in the vehicle.

Legislation has been introduced in New Hampshire that would allow vehicles from as recent as the 1975 model year to obtain year-of-manufacture plates. Currently, only vehicles from the 1960 model year or before can display such plates.

While a number of states are trying to decide who can have what kind of plates Minnesota’s legislature is considering a bill that would allow the status of collector cars in the state to be determined by nationally recognized standards.

Another trending topic, as always, is emissions. In Arizona, state regulators are working to update the state’s air-quality plan to allow a law passed in 2011 to be implemented. This law exempts all pre-1974 vehicles from emission testing, but in order for the law to be implemented the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must approve the updated air-quality plan first.

In Delaware, similar legislation has been introduced and approved by the Senate Safety Commission, except there, it deals with reconstructed vehicles. If approved the bill will allow reconstructed vehicles 25 years or older to be exempt from emissions testing, but would limit them to just 1,000 miles per year.

Washington has stepped up in a way that hot rod enthusiasts can be happy about. They recently signed into law a bill that exempts all collector vehicles from emissions. Unfortunately, stipulations like having collector car insurance and another “daily driver” type vehicle come with this new relaxation of emission requirements.

While elimination of emission requirements for collector cars in some states are cutting down on fees assessed to their owners Tennessee governor, Bill Haslem, just signed a law that saves vintage vehicle owners from having to pay the privilege tax. While this is a win by many accounts vintage car owners could still be required to pay a one-time tax averaging about $43 for their vehicles.

The final topic of trending significance this month is Collector Car Appreciation Day which has officially been set by SEMA for Friday, July 11th.

In British Columbia, July 12th has been designated Collector Car Appreciation Day while the whole month of July has been dubbed Collector Car Appreciation Month. In Louisiana, the second weekend of July will act as Car Appreciation Weekend if approved by the Senate.

The heat is on this summer, but SEMA and the SEMA Action Network (SAN) aren’t taking any breaks as they continue to fight for the hot rod hobby. Be sure to stay up to date with legislation that could affect the hot rod community by joining SAN and staying tuned to our monthly SEMA Law & Order updates!