Pub. 3 2021-2022 Issue 2

12 R ight up until the very last minute of February 19th, the Legislature’s bill introduction deadline, members were putting bills across the desk in a flurry of activity. Lawmakers have introduced a total of 2,497 bills this year, and we are watching almost 500 of them that could affect dealerships. Of those 500, in consultation with the CNCDA Legislative Committee members, we have identified our top 10 priority bills for immediate dealer engagement. Although the Legislature’s focus will remain primarily on measures related to com- bating the negative effects of the pandemic, we see renewed attention on issues like privacy, zero-emission vehicles, and consumer protection. CNCDA Top Ten as of 3/15/21 1. SB 361 (Umberg, D-Orange County): Modernizes the vehicle retailing process. SB 361 is CNCDA’s sponsored bill. Authored by Senator Tom Umberg, an Orange County legislator that chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, the bill modernizes the vehicle retailing process. It removes the last hurdle for online transactions by allowing dealers to get customer signatures electronically. 2. AB 80 (Burke, D-Marina del Rey): Partial deductibility of expenses paid with PPP funds. AB 80 provides partial PPP tax conformity by exempting the first $150,000 of expenses that businesses paid with PPP funds. Despite other business groups deciding to support the $150,000 cap, we are one of the few groups continuing to fight to remove or raise the cap. 3. AB 1211 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance): New DMV licensing category for electric bus subscriptions. In a revival of last year’s AB 326, AB 1211 would create a separate licensing scheme under the law so that a company called Canoo can offer their small electric buses to consumers in a subscription-like manner, with a proposed regulatory scheme that raises serious consumer protection and franchise law concerns. 4. SB 324 (Limón, D-Santa Barbara): Massive fines for noncompliant mail advertisements. SB 324 would provide government enforcement ability and fines of $1,000-$1,000,000 per violation for businesses that send out unsolicited commercial mail advertisements and fail to include a toll-free number First Look: CNCDAPriority Bills Alisa Reinhardt Director of Government Affairs