{"id":190442,"date":"2025-04-17T11:19:50","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=190442"},"modified":"2025-04-17T11:19:50","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T18:19:50","slug":"senator-grove-announces-senate-transportation-committee-passage-of-lenos-law-to-protect-classic-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=190442","title":{"rendered":"Senator Grove Announces Senate Transportation Committee Passage of \u201cLeno\u2019s Law\u201d to Protect Classic Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sacramento, CA&#8230;Today, S<a href=\"https:\/\/sr12.senate.ca.gov\/\">enator Shannon Grove<\/a>\u00a0(<em>R\u2013Bakersfield)<\/em>\u00a0proudly announced that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/leginfo.legislature.ca.gov\/faces\/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB712\">Senate Bill 712,<\/a>\u00a0also known as\u00a0<strong>Leno\u2019s Law<\/strong>, has passed out of the\u00a0<strong>Senate Transportation Committee<\/strong>\u00a0with bipartisan support. SB 712 removes outdated smog check requirements for classic vehicles that are 35 model years or older, ensuring these icons of California\u2019s automotive history remain on the road and part of our cultural identity.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_190443\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-190443\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-190443\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25.jpg 800w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25-570x380.jpg 570w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25-701x467.jpg 701w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-190443\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Senator Grove and TV icon Jay Leno at the press conference to rev up support for SB 712 prior to the Senate Transportation Committee hearing. Photo courtesy: California State Senate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y-55GU77Z3M\" title=\"Jay Leno visits Sacramento in support of classic car smog check bill\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m thrilled to see SB 712 advance with the support of my colleagues,\u201d\u00a0<strong>said Senator Grove<\/strong>. \u201cThese classic cars aren\u2019t just hobby vehicles\u2014they represent generations of craftsmanship, culture, and community pride. With this bill, we\u2019re protecting small businesses, empowering car enthusiasts, and preserving a vital piece of California\u2019s heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bill is sponsored by\u00a0<strong>Jay Leno<\/strong>, legendary comedian and lifelong automotive collector, who has been a vocal advocate for updating smog regulations to reflect the minimal impact of true collector vehicles.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cCalifornia helped invent car culture\u2014from lowriders in East L.A. to muscle cars in the Central Valley. These cars tell the story,\u201d said Jay Leno. \u201cSB 712 is about keeping that story alive. These vehicles are driven occasionally, not daily, and it just makes sense to treat them differently. I\u2019m proud to be working with Senator Grove, and I thank the committee for recognizing the importance of preserving our automotive legacy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>SB 712 also has the strong support of\u00a0<strong>Senator Dave Cortese (D\u2013San Jose)<\/strong>, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, who co-authored the bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese cars are rarely on the road, meticulously maintained, and represent a very small fraction of California&#8217;s total vehicle emissions. This is a long-overdue, common-sense law that both protects hobbyists and collectors and continues to safeguard our environment. I fully support &#8216;Leno\u2019s Law,\u201d\u00a0<strong>said Senator Dave Cortese.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The legislation comes at a time when collectors and small businesses face increasing regulatory and financial hurdles. California\u2019s classic cars make up a tiny fraction of vehicles on the road but generate massive economic and cultural value. According to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA), California\u2019s specialty automotive aftermarket industry supports over\u00a0<strong>149,000 jobs<\/strong>, contributes\u00a0<strong>$40.44 billion<\/strong>\u00a0to the state\u2019s economy, and pays over\u00a0<strong>$6.16 billion<\/strong>\u00a0in state and local taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis bill ensures California remains a welcoming home for car culture\u2014whether you\u2019re restoring a \u201876 Trans Am, cruising in a lowrider, or just visiting your local classic car show,\u201d added Grove. \u201cWe\u2019re embracing the history, innovation, and pride of these collector cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SB 712 now heads to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sacramento, CA&#8230;Today, Senator Shannon Grove\u00a0(R\u2013Bakersfield)\u00a0proudly announced that\u00a0Senate Bill 712,\u00a0also known as\u00a0Leno\u2019s Law, has passed out of the\u00a0Senate Transportation Committee\u00a0with bipartisan support. SB 712 removes outdated smog check requirements for classic vehicles that are 35 model years or older, ensuring these icons of California\u2019s automotive history remain on the road and part of our cultural identity. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":190443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,5,16,4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-law-enforcement","category-life-style","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Grove_SB712-event-084-04-08-25.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190444,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190442\/revisions\/190444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/190443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}