On the Hill With
Senators Sununu and Gregg
Peter J. McNamara, President
A contingent of New Hampshire dealers, including NHADA Vice Chairman Jay Alosa, NADA Director Jack Tulley, and DEAC State Chairman Ken Plante, along with Dan Bennett and me, headed to Washington in September to participate in the annual NADA Washington Conference. As in past years, the specific purpose of the Washington Conference is for automobile dealers and Automotive Trade Association Executives (ATAEs) to lobby their Congressional Delegations on current issues facing dealers throughout the country as well as to increase the awareness and necessity of DEAC.
This year, there were two major issues that are of great interest to dealers and consumers. The first, and possibly the one that gets the most publicity, is the issue dealing with Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. In December 2007, President Bush signed into law sweeping nationwide CAFE increases. This year, bills are circulating that would force the EPA to give to California the power to control the emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). The only way to control GHGs is to increase the CAFE standards! To avoid a patchwork of state MPG standards, dealers have been pushing for defeat of these bills.
As an aside, past NHADA President Dan McLeod had long been on the record for his reluctance to join hands in a legislative battle with our manufacturers. He noted that history has shown us that manufacturers say they can’t, and, then, somehow, they get it done. Last year, we joined the manufacturers in battling the increased CAFE standards only to find that the manufacturers quickly gave in to a compromise that was strikingly familiar to what the dealers fought against.
The second issue, while not as controversial, deals with insurance companies and salvage vehicles. The devastating impact of the past two years of hurricanes and the flooding in the Midwest gave dealers an opportunity to highlight the potential problem with reintroducing hundreds of thousands of washed salvage titles to the marketplace. Dealers have worked with members of Congress to seek a workable disclosure solution; and, as a result, S. 3483 and H.R. 1029 are bills that would require insurance companies to disclose the VIN of totaled vehicles to vehicle history providers at the time of payout to the consumer. A VIN-based system that would be made available to dealers is a lot more effective than trying to track damaged vehicles and paper titles that can be easily “washed” by fraudulent resellers to hide vehicle damage and gain higher resale profits. This solution to the salvage vehicle problem appears to be so simple that it often confuses me as to why Congress takes so much time to help eliminate this problem that impacts consumers and dealers.
With this information, on Tuesday, September 16, the NHADA contingency set out to meet with our Congressional Delegation on Capitol Hill. Our first meeting was with Senator Gregg, followed by Senator Sununu. In both instances, we met with the Senators and explained the dealers’ position on CAFE and salvage vehicles. Both Senators are supportive of passing VIN-based disclosure systems for salvage titles. As in past years, both Senators asked us, “What can I do for you?”and “How’s business?"; and there was considerable dialogue. They seemed genuinely concerned that the retail auto business is in a downturn and understand that our business is a leading economic indicator. Simply put, understanding the condition of the retail motor vehicle business is a fundamental requirement to understanding the condition of the economy.
Senator Sununu has clearly proven himself to be a friend of the dealers, and I hope that the dealers will remember that when they discuss their voting preferences with their fellow Granite-staters and when they step into the voting booth this November. Senator Sununu is in a tight re-election race and could certainly use your support.
