LOUISIANA PROPOSED NEW LAW : HB 549 Provides for Military Surplus Motor Vehicles

[Trailboss]

...Kind of disconcerting Senator Hewwitt left...

Sen Hewitt didn't leave, she just asked for the bill to be deferred since there were so many wording changes being suggested in the open committee meeting, and each one would require a separate amendment to the original bill. She wanted to get with John and Ann in a separate meeting to try to address their concerns so the amended bill would pass out of committee quickly next week.

 

[gentrysgarage]

Thanks for the clarification TrailBoss, I am a pessimist and erred on the wrong side!

 

[Broke Down]

Please keep us posted on the next open forum for this, if I have enough notice I can take a day off to be there with all of you. This is really great to see a change.

 

[1943 Halftrack]

The next Senate Transportation Committee meeting with be this Wednesday.

 

[juanprado]

The next Senate Transportation Committee meeting with be this Wednesday.

Is Sb549 on the agenda?

Do you have the proposed amendments or language omv has agreed to support?

 

[1943 Halftrack]

Senator Hewitt has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday to work on the amendments. She wants to schedule the bill on Thursday with the Transportation Committee

 

[juanprado]

2nd Owners working Conference

Been busy so have not updated......

Last wed Sen Hewitt called a meeting attended by 4 owners to work out the language and final draft. To my surprise, OMV Commissioner St. Germain & her staff attorney attended along with the Senate staffer who technically drafts the bill and another staffer along with Sen Hewitt.

It was a rather long and sharp meeting at times so I will try to lay out what happened but not necessarily in order as it was quite a round table...

NO ROADBLOCKS
The commissioner and attorney spoke clearly that they were in favor of allowing mv's and were not opposed to hmmwv's and others on road. They were personable, non confrontational, and again truly interested in coming to a solution. The commissioner even mentioned she liked hmmwv's and would like to see one and sit in it. I almost fell out the chair and quickly realized, they are not roadblocks.

Ultimatum
Sen Hewitt made it clear that we had to get a consensus from owners of the language subject to all parties approval at that mtg. This was the final line in the sand. No agreement- No bill forwarded to committee on Thu and effectively dead for 2 -1/2 years plus. Possible hand grenade thrown in. I was not aware that the Senators can only draft 5 bills for consideration at each session. Sen Hewitt stated that in 2 years, many things could become legislative priorities and if we failed, she could not guarantee to author the bill in the future.

La is not Idaho
Early on it was clearly established the La is not Idaho and that would not fly. Some references to the differences inbetween us. Also brought up that Ky was too technical and long. It was recommended that the best course would be broad language not nailed down to specifics. No one had the stomach for inspections and regulations, etc at the state level.

Meeting got very messy and dived into many areas. It got contentious early with the off road and on road language and vehicle definition, fmvss standards, ride heights, emissions, min equipment etc

MV Definition approved
I felt my role at this time was to stop the commotion and lets get her done. I asked what is first? Lets iron out the definition. After lots of stuff, the attorney suggested language that he was good on and then everyone felt it was doable and all wording of off road and on road removed also. Definition agreed on and finally progress and lots of the ugly stuff that came up that could have derailed the bill went away.

65 & Interstate
All parties agreed on the 65mph as it had been approved last week. All the La folks clearly stated that the Interstate Restriction was non negotiable and would need to remain. They feel that La could lose part of $600m of federal funds from federal statues and funding/grants. No specifics were offered to back this up but this was their line. We had to accept the restriction or no go.No negotiation on Interstate.

Equipment & Antiques
Lots of discussion on equipment and what was being required. Road block was the older mv's that did not have seat belts or turn signal etc aka 40-60's time line from some of the owners. Agreement to remove ban on antique registration and accept the other min standards to move forward.

So the bill was ironed out and compromises reached from the LA side but not all owners in agreement. Next step is that the owners would have to all be in agreement & accept the bill as is. No more back and forth and a united front at the next Transportation Senate Committee mtg tomorrow with no negative public remarks or bill would not even be brought up. They left and I met with the owners to explain where we were and options. We came to a consensus subject to seeing a copy of the bill.

The staffer drafted the bill language and sent out to all around 4pm. The instructions were clear. All parties approval by 6PM or the Senator would not move it to the committee agenda for the next day. The attorney gave thumbs up and all the owners gave approval.

Attached is what we had to approve.

 

[juanprado]

2nd Time at Senate Transportation Committee & next steps

Next day, The bill was brought up by Sen. Hewitt along with the new amendments that everyone had approved the previous evening.

We were towards the end of the agenda and lots of butt warming seat time.

There was no discussions or public input as no one wished to speak and the Chairman quickly brought the bill to approval. SB549 lives and now goes to the Senate floor.

It was read in yesterday into the record.

I believe it is on the agenda for today's senate session for full senate approval.

Copy of the full engrossed bill is attached.

Next step is house and finally Governor's signature.

 

[juanprado]

Let me be clear why la residents need to support bill

Facts:

1> No one will be allowed to register any mv till this bill passes period unless you want an off road only title

2> This is a clear path for all mv's including gp off road hmmwv's to be registered unless tracked or construction equipment. FLu's are definitely in a gray area and only owner I know in La told me not to make an issue of it.

3>Only fiscal matters will be considered in 2019 Session

4>if we did not move forward, we could lose Senator's assistance in 2 years

5>We could start over with the VA crap and then some in a much worse situation with even more restrictions. A lot can happen with personnel changes, attitudes, etc. Yes, We could truly move backwards in 2 years.

6> If you have followed from Beginning, we are now literally almost in a good place. Yes, not perfect but way ahead than 4 weeks ago.

7>Gives 52 revoked owners a path forward.

8>Presently registered owners are not impacted however you are registered. I saw and heard nothing about anymore revocations or enforcement actions.

Read between the lines and understand the end game. Positive things can change in the future.

 

[lowell66dart]

Great news. Thank you very much.

 

[cwc]

NO ROADBLOCKS
The commissioner and attorney spoke clearly that they were in favor of allowing mv's and were not opposed to hmmwv's and others on road. They were personable, non confrontational, and again truly interested in coming to a solution. The commissioner even mentioned she liked hmmwv's and would like to see one and sit in it. I almost fell out the chair and quickly realized, they are not roadblocks.

Ultimatum
Sen Hewitt made it clear that we had to get a consensus from owners of the language subject to all parties approval at that mtg. This was the final line in the sand. No agreement- No bill forwarded to committee on Thu and effectively dead for 2 -1/2 years plus. Possible hand grenade thrown in. I was not aware that the Senators can only draft 5 bills for consideration at each session. Sen Hewitt stated that in 2 years, many things could become legislative priorities and if we failed, she could not guarantee to author the bill in the future.

La is not Idaho
Early on it was clearly established the La is not Idaho and that would not fly. Some references to the differences inbetween us. Also brought up that Ky was too technical and long. It was recommended that the best course would be broad language not nailed down to specifics. No one had the stomach for inspections and regulations, etc at the state level.
.

Juan, great effort and outcome, and good analysis of the meeting. Your experience is a good illustration that there needs to be an assessment of what is possible in your state, followed by positive engagement with those who can make it happen.

In some states such as Idaho and Iowa, it was possible to implement changes with relatively simple provisions. In KY, a number of sections of state law required revision, so the affected sections are lengthy, and the "Ultimatum" here was that inspection to basic safety requirements would be required, non-negotiable.

Thanks for all the updates from LA, and good work!

Chris

 

[Al Capone]

Another successful vote yesterday evening . 35-1 . Headed to house next week for final vote I believe . ��

 

[Dock Rocker]

I hope we don’t have to tread this ground in Mississippi but thank you for all the hard work giving us a clear path if we have to go this way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Al Capone]

My friend rick was the main solider in this battle and he is from ms. He was helping me .

 

[Al Capone]

On another note never use go fund company . No live people to talk to or get reply email from . All donations will be refunded but it will take 90days before this happens . We tried to get it done sooner but no one would contact us back . Thanks for support .

 

[juanprado]

Credit due to many who helped

Al is absolutely correct. He and Rick started the ball rolling and influenced omv by researching all the material. They did alot of the technical jargon research and initial conversations to omv. They were on the front originally and always in the background. I feel strongly that this work is one reason omv came to the plate.

I would also point out that Al is the one who connected to Sen Hewitt and got the Senator's support. The effort would never have gotten off the ground without this crucial relationship.

I believe Ryan also came onboard early and did alot of the back channel negotiations with omv on amendments to "fix" the bill. He also took the lead on the 1st mtg. He was also present at all the meetings.

At the initial owners' mtg, Al had to work and we had a problem. Al had mandatory work training and the senator's office made it clear, we needed a constituent from Hewitt's district. I asked Zev`GoldnEagle to attend as he lives in the district. He did his part perfectly.

To be crystal clear, I came on late at Al's invitation. I had emailed the senators twice before hand and was ready with some other strategies that are on hold, pending a successful outcome. I brought people connections to the table as this is a widespread web and not everyone knows each other personally. The rest I already documented of my help for the team.

This was a group effort and many cogs where turning wheels. I just helped with momentum at the right times and spoke when needed

Many owners like Doug, John, Ann also participated by attendance. There where a few other folks at the first Committee mtg, that I did not get their names. There were also many other owners communicating and supporting in the background.

We are not there yet but many thanks to this group!

TEAM = Together everyone achieves more!

 

[juanprado]

I would like to thank Sen. Hewitt for sponsoring this bill and supporting all Louisiana Residents with Military Vehicles. This bill would not have been possible without her hard work and leadership. It was her dedication that moved this bill forward.

THANK YOU!

 

[BKubu]

I would like to thank Sen. Hewitt for sponsoring this bill and supporting all Louisiana Residents with Military Vehicles. This bill would not have been possible without her hard work and leadership. It was her dedication that moved this bill forward.

THANK YOU!

You probably already thought of this, but I would suggest sending her a formal thank you note. You may also want to let her know that you will remember her support when the next election rolls around!

 

[goldneagle]

I appreciate Sen. Hewitt’s help with this especially since I am in her district! She really came through for us on this matter. The senator's office kept us updated as to the process and asked us for input along the way. They get an A+++++ from me for effort.

 

[Trailboss]

Email your Representative

I would like to thank Sen. Hewitt for sponsoring this bill and supporting all Louisiana Residents with Military Vehicles. This bill would not have been possible without her hard work and leadership. It was her dedication that moved this bill forward. THANK YOU!

I agree, Sen Hewitt is on our side, and has worked hard to get our trucks back on the road. I was impressed talking to her and watching her in committee trying to push this bill through. If she was my Senator, I'd surely support her in the next election.

As others said, the SB549 bill is going through the LA House of Representatives next week. Every LA resident needs to contact their Representative and urge them to support and pass as written the bill when it comes up. They do read your emails, but you need to send it today or tomorrow for them to read them by Monday.

If you know your Representative, go to http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Bios.aspx?cid=H , click on their name and copy their email address into your email program and urge them to vote in favor of SB549 as written.

If you aren't sure who is your Representative, go to http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/FindMyLegislators.aspx , enter your data and click FIND. Then click on "House District .." to go to your Representative's page. Again, please urge them to vote in favor of SB549 as written when it comes up.

If someone proposes a bunch of amendments, the bill may get kicked back to the Senate where it may stall, especially if OMV or DPS balk at the amendments. There is just not enough time to renegotiate another compromise before the current session ends. Lets go with this bill, and fix any unintended consequences or minor issues with a new bill in two years.