NOTE: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the documents below.
Free Download Here!

To view the June, 2010 Newsletter Click Here!

For the 2011 Conference Registration Form Click Here!


For information on this years conference please contact Bob Stearns at bstearns@ncbb.net

Presidents Message

Here we are in the middle of the 2010 Cruise season and the Association of California Car Clubs (ACCC) is getting ready to introduce new legislation for 2011. We are going to actively work on putting together a bill to benefit the Classic/Collector car hobby in California. With the help of our membership, we plan on introducing new legislation to get a Street Rod/ Custom Car bill for California. There are planned meetings for August to start the process and work with the legislators and regulators on legislation that will help keep our hobby alive. As President of the ACCC , I would like to request your help in making 2011 the year for the Great American Hobby.

In case you were not aware, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Senate resolution 513 designating Friday, July 9, 2010 as Collector Car Appreciation Day. This effort was undertaken by SEMA Action Network (SAN) to raise awareness of the vital role automotive restoration and collection played a part in American society. There were events scheduled all over the United States to celebrate this special day. AB 1740 (Specially Constructed Vehicles) did not make it through the Senate Transportation committee by two votes. Although the Assembly voted By Partisan and the bill was moved, the Senate Transportation Committee Democrats voted against it with Republicans voting for it. We will continue to try and get similar legislation introduced in 2011 and hope that we can get both parties to agree on how important it is for our car enthusiasts in California to have the freedom to own and drive our classic/collector vehicles. I want to encourage all car enthusiasts to join the ACCC and become a part of the solution.

As a member, you will have the opportunity to attend our midyear ACCC meeting at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November. SEMA has been very supportive and have generously allowed our members to attend the show and provide us with a meeting hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center. If you are an ACCC member or would like to become a member, please let me know if you can attend our meeting on November 2, 2010. I will place your name on a list that we will provide to SEMA before the show. You will receive a pass that will get you into the show and to our meeting. I would like to get the list of names in by August 31, 2010. Some of the Airlines and Hotels are giving discounted prices to SEMA attendees. You can go to the ACCC website www.acccdefender.org and go to the links page to click on the SEMA link then click on Events. Also, place on your calendar May 11-13, 2011 as the dates for our 2011 ACCC Legislative Conference at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento. I am looking forward to working with our ACCC Board of Directors and members over this next year to improve and build our membership.

Thank you

Bob Stearns

ACCC President

916-276-4081

bstearns@ncbb.net

AB-1740 Update June 15, 2010

Today, AB 1740 (Jeffries), relating to increasing the number of annual kit car registrations from 500 to 750, failed on a party line vote, 3-5. Three Republicans, Vice-Chair Bob Huff (Diamond Bar), Tom Harman (Huntington Beach), and Roy Ashburn (Bakersfield) voted in favor of the measure. Five Democrats, Chair Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach), Christine Kehoe (San Diego), Fran Pavley (Santa Monica), Mark DeSaulnier (Walnut Creek) and Joe Simitian (San Jose) voted against the bill.

Assemblyman Jeffries, using arguments compiled from many in the kit car community, cited the fact that these 250 additional kit cars were a minuscule amount of cars compared to the nearly 23 million registered cars in California. Other witnesses from the community worked to debunk the Democratic assumption that there is a ‘typical’ kit car; these witnesses clearly explained that cars range in price from $10,000 to well in excess of that. The witnesses expressed the views of many- that, as a hobby, kit cars are more works of art, and can not be defined as ‘typical’ by any means.

In committee, Chairman Lowenthal suggested that instead of increasing the limit to 750, kit cars could simply be retrofitted with modern emissions controls or use a modern ‘green’ engine developed by General Motors. The California Air Pollution Control Officers Association cited California Air Resources Board (CARB) studies that claimed that the ‘typical’ kit car polluted 200 times more than a regular 2005 model year car. The representative from CARB cited their ‘statistics’ claiming that most of the recent cars registered under the SB 100 exemptions were high polluting, large model engines. Senator Kehoe, also citing the fact that retro fits and emissions controls were available for kit cars, announced that she would be unable to support AB 1740.

Unfortunately, this negative vote in the Senate Transportation Committee marks the end of the road for this bill. With the bill 2 votes short of passage and no Democratic Senators willing to vote for the bill (or suggest any amendments that would allow them to vote for the bill) AB 1740 will not advance any further this year. Assemblyman Jeffries is committed to working on this issue again next year- whether the bill takes a form similar to this or something a bit different.

I personally want to thank each of you who have invested so much time and energy in this bill. AB 1740 would not have advanced this far without your dedicated hard work and outstanding perseverance. Many of you gathered signed letters, made phone calls and contacted elected officials. Thank you for your efforts and passion for your hobby.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Please feel free to contact me with any bill ideas for the next legislative cycle, or if you have any questions about the legislative process. Thank you again for your outstanding efforts.

Andrew Shedlock
Office of Assemblymember Kevin Jeffries

Eddie's Response

Dave Schaub did an excellent job of presenting our case, as did Assemblyman Jeffries, Dave Cahill from the NSRA, and Bob Stearns of the ACCC. My sincere thanks to all of them for sticking it out through a several hour delay.

What this shows, is how far off the path things have gotten. When you can't get a measly 250 more cars per year registered, in a State with 30 million, something just ain't right. We had thousands of supporters, but there are tens of thousands of car enthusiasts. There needs to be a way to connect and support these issues when they arise. Something to think about.

Later in the hearing, the amnesty bill AB-2461 (revised version of AB-619) sailed through the committee unopposed. This is a SEMA sponsored bill, look it up and read it for yourselves, and draw your own conclusions. I am concerned, that it could be amended into a monster before they're finished.

My sincere thanks to all of you that took the time to get involved.
EddieB.

Bob's Response

Andrew Shedlock and Eddie Barbosa pretty much explained the outcome of AB1740 that was heard in the Senate Trans committee today. We arrived around 1:00 pm and was told the hearing was going to be in another room. When we got there, there was a budget committee meeting and we were told that the hearing would not start until 3:00 pm.

We finally got out of the hearing around 5:30 pm. Many thanks to Vic Repstad, Dave Schaub, Dave Cahal, Assemblyman Jeffries and both John Caldwell and Russell Noack (our lobbyists that stuck with us all day while we waited). Assemblyman Jeffries, Dave Schaub and Dave Cahal did a great job of speaking in support of the bill. Unfortunately we only got 3 of the 5 votes needed to move the bill. Senator Kehoe (San Diego) voted against it but before the hearing, John Caldwell visited her office to try and get her to vote yes.

I met with Rob Oglesby (CARB Legislative Director) before the hearing and have set up a meeting with him on Thursday June 17th at 10:00 am to discuss Street Rod/Custom Car legislation for next year. We need to keep trying and if we all work together, we can prevail. I also talked to Dennis Clear (DMV Legislative Director) and he stated that there are 97 sequence numbers for Specially Constructed Vehicles still available for 2010. I will keep you updated on the meeting with CARB.

Bob Stearns
ACCC President