CT Owners - Proposed Bill 5971: AN ACT CONCERNING THE REGISTRATION OF COMPOSITE CARS

[Badfish]

Connecticut Owners - if you've followed my prior threads, you are aware that under the current statutes, DMV states that Composite (kit / replica) vehicles in CT are NEVER eligible for classic plates, even after 20 years old. If you have them today, you are lucky. My understanding is several folks have recently requested classic plates, without success.

Passing of this bill would allow us to to proudly display classic vehicle plates on our composite vehicle, reflecting a more period correct appearance.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/TOB/H/PDF/2023HB-05971-R00-HB.PDF

Steps to the process:


The bill is introduced as a concept (done)
The bill will go to (likely) the transportation committee to be drafted
The committee will need to be supportive for the legislative commission office to draft the bill language
If and when it makes it to committee, there will be a public hearing. We should testify and organize like minded to people / companies to provide testimony


I will keep the forum posted, but please share with other auto enthusiasts and companies. I would suggest reaching out to you local reps and legislators to gain their support as well.

[Tbev]

Connecticut Owners - if you've followed my prior threads, you are aware that under the current statutes, DMV states that Composite (kit / replica) vehicles in CT are NEVER eligible for classic plates, even after 20 years old. If you have them today, you are lucky. My understanding is several folks have recently requested classic plates, without success.

Passing of this bill would allow us to to proudly display classic vehicle plates on our composite vehicle, reflecting a more period correct appearance.

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/TOB/H/PDF/2023HB-05971-R00-HB.PDF

Steps to the process:


The bill is introduced as a concept (done)
The bill will go to (likely) the transportation committee to be drafted
The committee will need to be supportive for the legislative commission office to draft the bill language
If and when it makes it to committee, there will be a public hearing. We should testify and organize like minded to people / companies to provide testimony


I will keep the forum posted, but please share with other auto enthusiasts and companies. I would suggest reaching out to you local reps and legislators to gain their support as well.

Great job Jay! My state rep is back to not responding to my emails. I am skeptical of all politicians, but I am disappointing as my previous email interaction with her sounded like she was very interested in helping our cause. I am not going to give up though. I am dropping my chassis off at Ron's today to have the body put back on. I will notify him of this bill as he is one of the big players in this industry in CT. Thanks again.
Tony

[Badfish]

Thanks Tony. Yes, keep pushing! Reps, local senators, etc.

Tell Ron I said Hi, and certainly anything he can do to help and share with other businesses in CT and the local area that depend on revenue from kit cars. I think he does a lot of cars for Vintage in New Haven.

Good Luck at drop off!

[Badfish]

Some progress. If / when this goes to public hearing, need support!

Jan 18: Referred to Joint Committee on Transportation
Feb 01: Reserved for Subject Matter Public Hearing

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2023/TS/H/PDF/2023HB-05971-R00TRA-CV16-TS.PDF

https://i.imgur.com/1BBySVt.jpg

[Badfish]

Got an update from my rep today: “I spoke with the chair of the transportation committee. They are going to raise it for a public hearing, not sure the date.”

Once I know more/when, I will share. Hope we can get a strong representation from our group / other automotive enthusiasts.

[Tbev]

Got an update from my rep today: “I spoke with the chair of the transportation committee. They are going to raise it for a public hearing, not sure the date.”

Once I know more/when, I will share. Hope we can get a strong representation from our group / other automotive enthusiasts.

Jay thanks for taking the lead on this. I hope all of the CT folks on the forum make some noise to help get this passed. I am a couple of months away from registration and am not looking forward to what would likely be a 4 digit tax bill every year if it doesn't. My state rep finally got back to me and seems to be willing to help in any way she can.

[Badfish]

Thanks Tony, keep pushing. Hoping once we know the hearing date, more CT owners will join.


I'm drafting a letter to send to my State Senator, will share shortly.

[Badfish]

Public Hearing February 15th. More to come…

https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/cgabillstatus/cgabillstatus.asp?selBillType=Bill&bill_num=HB05971&which_year=2023

[Badfish]

SEMA SAN (SEMA Action Network) sent out an email notification on the bill, voice your support!

https://p2a.co/xddZpqo?utm_campaign=...m_source=iPost (https://p2a.co/xddZpqo?utm_campaign=LegAlert&utm_id=123384&utm_content=CTA&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iPost)

[Tbev]

SEMA SAN (SEMA Action Network) sent out an email notification on the bill, voice your support!

https://p2a.co/xddZpqo?utm_campaign=...m_source=iPost (https://p2a.co/xddZpqo?utm_campaign=LegAlert&utm_id=123384&utm_content=CTA&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iPost)

I hope this bill gets the support it needs to pass. Thanks again Jay for getting us this far!

[chmhasy]

Any word on this

[Tbev]

Any word on this

I'm sure Jay (Badfish) will respond to this as well as I am not sure where it stands right now. I do not think the public hearing went particularly well. There was only one other person besides Jay and myself that submitted written public testimony and the director of DMV spoke and was not supportive of the bill. Dave Dajumpaa, from the CT Council of Car Clubs, provided verbal testimony in support of the bill and was able to address DMV's concerns, but at that point the damage may have already been done. I hope I'm wrong.

[Badfish]

Thanks for the bump chmhasy (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/member.php?682-chmhasy). Yeah, not much progress to report beyond what Tbev (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/member.php?27666-Tbev) noted. At the public hearing, the DMV commissioner raised concerns that really weren't relevant to the proposed bill, which Dave (CT Council of Car Clubs) addressed. It will be interesting how the testimonies & responses were received by the committee and next steps.

I periodically check the cga website, no changes and the vote tally still isn't completed.

Disappointing, only a few CT replica owners submitted testimony.

I reached out to my Rep this week, who said he would follow up with the transportation committee on status.

[Badfish]

I was notified today, via my Rep’s coordinator, bill is a no-go. I’ll ask why and what can be potentially modified for next year, but I guess it’s dead for 2023.

Unfortunately HB 5971 did not make it out of committee this year. Yesterday was the Transportation Committee’s deadline, and this was not one of the bills they moved forward with. This isn’t to say it can’t be proposed again in future years, but it does not appear to be moving any further this year.


I wish I had better news for you, but sometimes a bill gets submitted again over several sessions as it picks up steam before eventually being passed.

[chmhasy]

I heard it usually takes 3 years to get it through.

[Badfish]

Unfortunately, this tax issue has been going on for over 3 years.