"Leno's Law", California SB 712 passed the California state Senate, but the fight is not over! - NCRS Discussion Boards

"Leno's Law", California SB 712 passed the California state Senate, but the fight is not over!

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  • Duke W.
    Beyond Control Poster
    • January 1, 1993
    • 15672

    "Leno's Law", California SB 712 passed the California state Senate, but the fight is not over!

    The vote was 32-3 with 5 senators not voting... strong bipartisan support like in the Transportation and Appropriation Committees. The bill now goes to the California Assembly, and make no mistake, opposing forces are rallying to kill this bill and strong grassroots support is needed to overcome the lobbyists and special interests who want it dead!

    There's a lot of misinformation on the Web... newspaper articles and social media sites like Facebook, and the biggest misinformation involves the Historical Vehicle License Plate driving restrictions. Bogus reports claim that HV plate cars "...may be driven in historical exhibitions, parades, or historical club activities only". This statement is from an old, obsolete version of form REG 17A, Special License Plate Application (REV. 7/2011), which was replaced by REV. 11/17 that changed the operative word to primarily, and this version was replaced by REV. 2/2025 that just showed up on the Web a week or two ago, which carries over the operative word, primarily. Applicants need to sign Section B, top of page 2 of the three page form that states in part:

    "Vehicle is primarily operated or moved over the highway in historical exhibitions, parades, or historical vehicle club activities."

    An informal cars and coffee gathering at a shopping center qualifies as a "historical exhibition", but the restrictions do not preclude a Sunday afternoon pleasure drive. The real intent is to prevent drivers from using 35-year old or older "beater cars" as daily drivers.

    The following California DMV Web site link is the latest version (REV. 2/2025) of the REG 17A special plate application form. Obsolete versions are still floating around the Web. Do not read or download this form from any other source other than the following:



    Other HV plate misinformation floating around the Web is the $25 fee. Yes, there is this fee, but it's a one time only fee at the time of application. Many reports imply that it's an annual fee, and such reports usually fail to explain the reduction in the VLF.

    The California annual registration bill contains several different line items. First is the "registration fee", which is currently $106 for cars. Other fees include "license fee", "weight fee" , "special plate fee", "county/district fees", and "owner responsibility fee".

    The second line item is often referred to as the VLF or "vehicle license fee". It's a "tax" (deductible as a state and local tax if you itemize and are below the SALT limit) based on the value DMV places on your car. The current rate is 0.65 percent, but has been as high as 2.00 percent in the past. When you buy a new or used car the VLF is 0.65 percent of the price you pay. It remains the same for the first registration renewal, then goes down by 10 percent per year as DMV depreciates your car 10 percent of the purchase price every year until the depreciated value is down to 10 percent of the original value upon the tenth registration renewal, and there it stays as long as you own the car.

    If you buy a qualifying vintage car or install HV plates on an existing car the VLF is TWO DOLLARS regardless of what you paid or the VLF with your current plates, and it stays there as long as you own the car car and keep the HV plates. So HV plates offer an often considerable savings on annual registration fees! But press reports and internet buzz rarely explain this fact.

    SB 712 is now in the hands of the California Assembly's 80 members. The likely committee path is, like the Senate, Transportation and Appropriations, then second and third readings followed by a floor vote, and this will likely play out in the next two to four weeks.

    The way to keep up with what's going on is to go to the following link:



    This is a California Legislature Web site, and it has the latest information on bills in progress. Use the buttons to see the current text and history of changes and votes, and other information. Any activity will either be posted the day of the change or at least within 24 hours. This is near real time, primary source information about what's going on with SB 712. Don't waste your time reading newspaper articles or Web sites (except this one) to know the latest status and information.

    Duke
  • Dave B.
    Frequent User
    • August 31, 2024
    • 54

    #2
    It seems to me that "primarily" is sufficiently vague as to be extremely difficult to enforce. The state would have to prove your driving history, and it would be up to a court to decide what specific activities qualify as historical exhibitions or parades (does a group of enthusiasts on a pleasure cruise constitute a parade?). I suspect the only way the state would be able to suspect you of violating the restrictions is to monitor your odometer reading at every registration renewal, but the difficulty and expense of investigating every individual showing an odo with suspiciously high mileage would be quite unfeasible.

    This is encouraging news and I don't think anyone should be worried about the stated restrictions.
    Dave
    Rocky Mountain Chapter
    '66 Coupe L72 Laguna Blue/Black

    Comment

    • Duke W.
      Beyond Control Poster
      • January 1, 1993
      • 15672

      #3
      Your logic makes a lot of sense. California Police Departments, especially the big cities like LA are severely undermanned and can barely keep up with law enforcement issues that are important for public safety. (What is happening in LA this weekend is essentially an insurrection.)

      Motorcycle officers are primarily responsible for traffic enforcement, and they've got plenty to do with speeders and other infractions. Drive around greater LA and it's amazing how many cars have expired registrations, months and even years overdue. Probably one reason is that the car won't pass an emissions test, and then maybe the car is not insured, and does the driver have a valid license?

      Then there are all the cars and motorcycles with obnoxiously loud/illegal exhaust systems. To quote "Maverick", traffic enforcement is a "target rich environment".

      I had some concern about installing Historical Vehicle plates on my Cosworth Vega about 15 years ago. What if I was pulled over on a weekday morning because I wanted to give the car some exercise and used it to make the 5-mile round trip to the grocery store.

      I put this question to a local chapter member who was active LAPD at the time, and his response went something like... "Duke, a cop's not going to stop and old guy like you in a nice vintage car unless you're doing something stupid". My response was that I was too old to do stupid things with a car, but then mine all encourage sporty driving, so I always have to keep an eye on my six.

      Now I have three vintage cars with HV plates, but only need to drive about once a week, on average, usually on a weekday, and I've developed some stories if I ever get stopped by a police officer to inquire if my drive complies with the HV plate restrictions.

      1. I'm taking it to a shop (or a friend's house who has a lift) to check out a noise in the front suspension.

      2. I did some brake work yesterday and am doing a test drive to check that everything is okay.

      And if a weekend. I'm going to (or returning from) cars and coffee at....

      Duke
      Last edited by Duke W.; June 8, 2025, 11:23 AM.

      Comment

      • Justin S.
        Very Frequent User
        • July 3, 2013
        • 291

        #4
        Duke,
        I feel your pain about the obnoxious loud exhaust systems on cars. I don't remember that being a problem in the 90s during my first life as a car enthusiast.

        I live in a small city where police services are contracted with the sheriff's office. They are not equipped to handle traffic issues.

        There's a main street where everyone drives like a maniac at full throttle. It reminds me of where I grew up hearing the sounds of Baylands except it's not just on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

        I don't think you have anything to worry about with respect to being pulled over especially if you drive normally. The real money from police agencies is earned from reckless driving and exhibition of speed related stops.

        Comment

        • Duke W.
          Beyond Control Poster
          • January 1, 1993
          • 15672

          #5
          The following SEMA link, in addition to the links in post #1, will help you understand Leno's Law, and the remaining schedule as it works its way through the legislative process. Especially if you live in California please check out this link.

          ​​​​​https://www.sema.org/search?fulltext=leno%27s+

          If you live in California be prepared to contact your member of the California Assembly asking for their support and yes vote when the time comes. It will only take a few minutes. We need all the help we can get from California citizens to get Leno's Law passed.

          It's very important for owners of '76-up Corvettes or any other marques in this model year range to have the option to remove their cars from biennial emission testing, and they need the support of ALL California friends and car enthusiasts to help get Leno's Law across the finish line.

          If you are a member of any other automotive organizations with California members that have Web sites, please copy post #1 to that Web site and add the above SEMA link.

          Duke

          Comment

          • Michael J.
            Extremely Frequent Poster
            • January 27, 2009
            • 7122

            #6
            Meanwhile, good news on the national front.....https://thehill.com/policy/energy-en...v-mandate-cra/
            Big Tanks In the High Mountains of New Mexico

            Comment

            • Bill M.
              Extremely Frequent Poster
              • July 31, 1989
              • 1324

              #7
              Seems like a lot of older men forget one of the first things we did with our first hot rods was to install headers and straight pipes. Not much left today that a kid can do on his car don’t take away exhaust modifications

              Comment

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