State lawmakers in Sacramento have pumped the brakes on a bill pushed by comedian and famed car collector Jay Leno to make older cars exempt from smog checks in California.
The bill, SB 712, dubbed “Leno’s Law,” originally would have allowed vehicles 35 years or older to avoid the state’s requirement to pass a smog check test that most other California vehicles face every two years.
The measure has been embraced by classic car owners, hot rodders and car clubs around the state, who say it is often difficult and expensive for pre-1990 vehicles to pass smog check tests, and there aren’t many of the vehicles left.
But after concerns from health groups that it would increase air pollution by letting smoky old junkers that aren’t used in parades or car shows out of smog checks, legislators have added new restrictions to narrow the bill.
On Friday, the state Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-1 to advance the bill to the Senate floor. But the committee added two key amendments to limit who is eligible. First, lawmakers required that vehicles 35 years or older seeking the smog check exemption must have a historical vehicle license plate, which costs $25 in addition to regular registration fees and which under state law means the car “may only be driven in historical exhibitions, parades or historic vehicle club activities.”
Second, they required that the owners must have collector’s car insurance, which is usually cheaper than regular insurance, but which often sets limits on how many miles a year can be driven, prohibits daily driving and requires the vehicle to be kept in a locked garage.
Because of the Memorial Day weekend holiday, the specific language of the amendments wasn’t made public until Wednesday. Lawmakers said they are trying to find a balance between public health and the state’s long history of car culture.
“The goal has always been to protect legitimate collectors, people who own and maintain older vehicles as a hobby, not as daily drivers,” said Elisa Rivera, a spokeswoman for Sen. Anna Caballero, a Democrat from Merced, who is chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee.
“These amendments help tighten eligibility to ensure that only true collector vehicles, not high-emission cars used for regular transportation, receive the smog check exemption,” she said.
Rivera noted that Caballero’s Central Valley district has some of the highest levels of smog in the United States and some of the highest levels of childhood asthma.
Some car collectors who have tracked the bill carefully were disappointed.
“Any progress is still good. But I’d prefer the amendments didn’t get added,” said Mike Frankovich, who founded Californians for Classic Car Smog Exemptions.
Frankovich, a Pasadena property manager, has a 1940 Ford Coupe, a 1956 Cadillac, a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1967 Plymouth Satellite, a 1969 Chevy Impala, a 1977 AMC Pacer, a 1986 Chevy Suburban, a 1983 Dodge Van and a 1990 Mustang.
He said there aren’t many shops that even perform smog checks on older cars. Many car collectors don’t want the state’s white historical license plate because they prefer the original license plate that corresponds to the year of their vehicle, he added. And not everyone has access to a garage. He said he hopes the amendments are removed as the bill progresses.
“The majority of legislators in California don’t know how hard it is to get a smog check for collector cars,” he said. “It’s hard to find a place. It’s hard to find all the original equipment. Most cars 35 and older aren’t used as daily transportation. Everyone who has been outside knows that.”
Opponents of the bill said they still think it goes too far.
“Clean air is a necessity. Collecting cars is a hobby,” said State Sen. Aisha Wahab, a Fremont Democrat who voted no on the bill in the committee. “I do not support rolling back progress on a public health issue we have spent decades trying to improve.”
Some 1980s vehicles emit more than 100 times the tailpipe pollution of a new vehicle, said Will Barrett, national senior director for clean air advocacy at the American Lung Association.
“The reality is these vehicles emit a lot more pollution than other cars,” Barrett said. “Giving them a blanket exemption to get out of these programs is problematic.”
Leno’s reaction was unclear Wednesday. The former Tonight Show host, who lives in Burbank and owns an extensive collection of vehicles, including at least 181 cars and 160 motorcycles, put out a statement Friday praising the fact that the bill had cleared the committee and was heading toward a full Senate vote. But the specific language in the amendments hadn’t been released then.
“California helped invent car culture, from lowriders in East L.A. to muscle cars in the Central Valley,” Leno said. “These cars tell our story. SB 712 is about keeping that story alive. These vehicles are only driven occasionally, not daily, and it makes sense to treat them differently.”
Under current state law, every vehicle owner must get a smog check every other year unless their vehicle is 8 years old or newer, is an alternative vehicle like an electric car, or is model year 1975 and older.
If a vehicle fails, the owner must repair it and have it tested again until it passes before they can get it registered.
Over the past two years, approximately 342,000 vehicles with a 1976-1990 model year were given smog check tests, according to the state Bureau of Automotive Repair. About 68,000 of those vehicles, or 20% of all vehicles with those model years, failed the smog check.
“While I have concerns about the amendments, I remain optimistic that we can work to improve the language as the bill continues through the legislative process,” said State Sen. Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield and the author of the bill.
