Colorado Bill SB19-054 RE: (Former) Military Vehicle Motor Vehicle Regulation

[donkren]

From the SEMA Action Network:

COLORADO BILL TO ALLOW MILITARY VEHICLE TITLING UNFAVORABLY AMENDED

Legislation (SB19-054) introduced to allow for the titling and registration of surplus military vehicles for on-road use has been unfavorably amended by the Colorado legislature. If passed in its current form, all surplus military vehicles would be limited to off-road use only. As a result of these amendments, the SEMA Action Network (SAN) is no longer able to support this legislation.

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https://www.semasan.com/legislative-alerts/colorado/colorado-bill-allow-military-vehicle-titling-unfavorably-amended

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-054

 

[BajaRat]

Booooooooooo !
That stinks

 

[tommys2patrick]

It appears to be refining the definition of the terms "Historic Military Vehicle" and "Surplus Military Vehicle" as to the ability to legally operate it on Highway or restrict that vehicle to off highway use. It is confusing as it also has some sort of exemption for HMMWV. It appears to me that the Surplus type are those ex military vehicles that are modified from the original military use and design to something more custom for the end user. Things such as appearance, comfort, color, purpose, speed, road-ability, emissions, performance etc. For example, a vehicle that is modified for use in logging, mining, farming, recovery, construction etc is not Historical. While someone that keeps the vehicle looking and functioning the way the military had it is more "historical". It is rather challenging just finding all the cross references in such legislation and which original document is being proposed to change. definitely not making things easy to figure out.

 

[mann650]

I just finished the title process for an M35A3 and was told at several steps along the way that these were going to be off-road only titles soon. I'll write letters to all I can think of, but this could be a killer for me.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Hmm,..And then in 2021 the (51st) State of 'Historicama' was formed, And oddly 99.99989% of the residents seem to be..'Collectors' of ..?.

 

[mann650]

Perhaps I can get enough backing to have many of the current roads removed from the list of "roads"? Colorado would save money on maintenance and upkeep, and I could drive to a rally.

 

[mann650]

Looks like it passed. The Bill says it takes effect June 1st 2019, anyone have an idea of how this will be implemented? I see two possible categories for our vehicles, Historical Military Vehicles and Surplus Military Vehicles. I'm not sure how they will dived the pack and if the historical class will have all the on-road privileges. Thoughts?

 

[Katavic918]

Hopefully those already titled for on road will be grandfathered in.

 

[Crapgame]

My former club in Colorado fought for years to get the law passed. Now with another stroke of a pen its going away. And to accomplish what? Make the roads and highways safer? Sure, make it easy to legally smoke pot, then motor vehicle accidents increase but, hey, lets further legislate all those ugly, menacing looking FMVs on the road.

 

[SgtMajHarper]

Somewhere we had another thread going on this topic a while back. Here's my take on this new legislation.It all started with a farm implement company in SE Colorado that buys / sells surplus military vehicles for agricultural usage and modifications to them for that purpose. The bill defines surplus military vehicles as off-highway vehicles for the purposes of titling these vehicles and of using these vehicles off road. These changes in the definition do the following:

• A surplus military vehicle may be titled as an off-highway vehicle;
• A surplus military vehicle is not registered as a motor vehicle;
• A surplus military vehicle is treated as an off-highway vehicle for the purposes of on-road use and off-road use.

These changes do not apply to military vehicles that are valued for historical purposes. Those that are maintained, marked as previously used by the military and privately owned and maintained for their historical value can still be titled, licensed and driven on public streets in Colorado and you don't have to bolt license plates on them as it distracts from their military appearance.

Two separate categories of vehicles; historical ans street legal, off road and agricultural use. I guess some folks can find themselves in no-mans land where they have a truck that is no longer really looking marked or maintained in military appearance and maybe the state could balk at allowing a zombie apocalypse truck to have license plates, you never know about these rumors.

 

[SgtMajHarper]

FIRE MISSION !!! Being an artillery guy I didn't know how else to break the silence and break into any conversations. On my earlier post I made the mistake of "assuming" that the bureaucrats in Denver would abide by the new law as written and intended and that our historical military vehicles would continue to treated as in the past. Well, SILLY ME !! Someone fairly high up the food chain decided to send out instructions to all county clerks to cease and desist any further titling and licensing of our vehicles. Further insult to resend any previously issued titles and licenses and to re-title everything as a "surplus military, off-road use only vehicle". This goes directly against the law as written, intended, passed, enacted into law and signed by the governor.

So now I'm finding us all in Colorado up the same creek and Denver yanked all the paddles away from everyone.

 

[Gamagoat1]

Here's the paperwork we received.

Somewhere we had another thread going on this topic a while back. Here's my take on this new legislation.It all started with a farm implement company in SE Colorado that buys / sells surplus military vehicles for agricultural usage and modifications to them for that purpose. The bill defines surplus military vehicles as off-highway vehicles for the purposes of titling these vehicles and of using these vehicles off road. These changes in the definition do the following:

• A surplus military vehicle may be titled as an off-highway vehicle;
• A surplus military vehicle is not registered as a motor vehicle;
• A surplus military vehicle is treated as an off-highway vehicle for the purposes of on-road use and off-road use.

These changes do not apply to military vehicles that are valued for historical purposes. Those that are maintained, marked as previously used by the military and privately owned and maintained for their historical value can still be titled, licensed and driven on public streets in Colorado and you don't have to bolt license plates on them as it distracts from their military appearance.

Two separate categories of vehicles; historical ans street legal, off road and agricultural use. I guess some folks can find themselves in no-mans land where they have a truck that is no longer really looking marked or maintained in military appearance and maybe the state could balk at allowing a zombie apocalypse truck to have license plates, you never know about these rumors.

View attachment IMG_20190626_0001.pdf

 

[mann650]

I've started sending letters to all that I can, although, I did that while the bill was being debated and perverted into what it is now and it did not have an effect. What else can we do? Does anyone know how the efforts in other states have gone and what was most effective?

 

[SgtMajHarper]

I'm going to get a list of all the legislators in my area and after much editing and removing all the bad words, start making phone calls to their offices and send letters asking "what the heck"? I'm also thinking about contacting groups that may have a vested interest in this issue like the parade guys, car show guys, even my MV insurance company and see if they want to jump on the issue also since is we can't drive them to their events, they also lose out. No title, no license plates, no insurance needed...that might help also.

 

[tommys2patrick]

Thank you Gama Goat 1. So if no military vehicle is to be titled and registered for on highway use how will all the fire departments, rescue and police tag there surplus equipment for on road? Will they all have to get rid of them? Will there be a fire sale in Colorado from all the police, fire, forestry, state agencies etc? Will Colorado grant itself some sort of exemption to do as they please in spite of what they order everyone else?

 

[tommys2patrick]

Mann 650--can you provide a list of names and addresses for those folks you believe can make a difference? Perhaps we can do a "grass roots" effort to change the states mind. Assuming that I can even openly ask this question in this forum. If not, a PM would be appreciated.

 

[tommys2patrick]

Sgt Maj Harper and Gama Goat 1--Do we know the name and title of the Department head at the Colorado Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicles, that issued this Memo to all of the county clerks? Perhaps we need to discuss this with that persons manager/superior, perhaps even go to the governor?

 

[undysworld]

Tommy2Patrick, et al,

This is kind of similar to what our DOT did in Wisconsin, back in around '08. A few thoughts (all just my opinions):

This forum is the place to discuss problems like this, BUT the moderators will not tolerate political bitching or badmouthing of people.

You should remember that DOTs also keep an eye on forums like this. If your info is sensitive and/or private, don't post it here.

You are spot-on about a grass-roots effort to change this law. The law won't change without effort, I expect. Somebody (bodies) needs to lead the charge. Might be you, maybe not. I hope some of you are willing to put forth the effort. Changing a law can be a long haul, so prepare to be patient.

You can probably get a lot of other (non-military) "collector" car owners to be on your side and stand up with you. Though we each choose a different vehicle to collect, no collector wants to see another person's choice outlawed because theirs could be next. Establish a commonality with other owners and they will likely support you. That's what worked for us here. You NEED a huge coalition of owners who will phone, write, and visit their elected representatives to support your efforts.

Good luck you guys.

 

[mann650]

undysworld, Thanks for the advice, i had not even thought about other auto collectors but the same rationale the state applied here would ban those vehicles from the road as well, thank you.

Tommys2patrick - Start with your local senators and representatives they can be found here - https://leg.colorado.gov/findmylegislator The bill only received one no vote total, of both the house and senate so it is pretty likely that your local representation voted for this bill. You can reserch the bill, find sponsors, read changes, see voting etc. here - https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-054

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Seek an opinion from your State Attorney General's Office as to the alignment of the Memo's intend under the APPLICABLE LAW the you've cited. NO employee of the State, whether appointed or hired, can change the purposed application of LAWs passed by the governing body under which they are tasked with administering the LAW.

You can refer to the Texas FMV LAWS Thread linked in my Signature Block below. Scroll to the sub-discussion during April of 2018 wherein a bureaucrat attempted to enforce something that was BEYOND the scope or intent of what is written in TEXAS LAW. The Department did the backstroke is record time and even issued a VERY CONCISE instruction to ALL local DMV officials (County Offices) CORRECTING them on the ACTUAL application of the LAW.