Last update: 19 April 2010
PRIMARY LEGISLATION
Team VADA's key legislation is our franchise bill. This bill has been introduced by legislators in the House and Senate. These bills are identical. This legislation is critical to shoring up our franchise laws in the face of attack by manufacturers and the media.
| Bill |
Description |
Current Status |
Dealer Franchise Bill
HB 1012 : Athey
SB 527 : Norment |
This legislation clarifies several important items in Virginia Code and addresses several unfair and despicable practices used by automobile manufacturers against Virginia dealers including: the definition of a franchised motor vehicle dealer, the size of the relevant market area for heavy truck dealers, site control, timeframes for manufacturer warranty and sales incentive audits, parts return timeframes, an anti-waiver statute, the right to sell new vehicle inventory after franchise termination, and clarification of the hearing process.
|
HB 1012:
Passed House
(98-Yes 0-No)
Passed Senate
(40-Yes 0-No)
SB 527:
Passed Senate
(40-Yes 0-No)
Passed House
(99-Yes 0-No)
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR!
|
"Demonstrator" Clarification Bill
HB 1269 : Janis
SB 293 : McDougle |
Virginia Code currently allows a dealer to sell a vehicle as “new”, “used” or “demonstrator”. This method of defining a vehicle has caused confusion. This bill will simplify that a new vehicle is any vehicle that has not been previously titled.
|
HB 1269:
Passed House
(97-Yes 2-No)
Passed Senate
(40-Yes 0-No)
SB 293:
Passed Senate
(40-Yes 0-No)
Passed House
(98-Yes 1-No)
SIGNED BY THE GOVERNOR!
|
OTHER LEGISLATION
Team VADA is tracking and working numerous bills which could impact your business. Below are a few of these bills.
Technical Change to the Buyers Order Statute
HB190 : Passed House 98-Y 0-N
Passed Senate 40-Y 0-N
The old buyers order disclosure becomes ineffective on July 1, 2010. This bill simply removes the old disclosure from the Code.
Flood Damage Vehicles
HB392 : Passed House 73-Y 25-N
Senate Transportation Committee continued until 2011
The threshold for reporting water damage to a vehicle would be raised from $1000 to $5000. The flood damage designation is a separate brand from a salvage brand.
Hybrids and HOV Lanes
HB214 : Passed House 78-Y 17-N
Passed Senate 40-Y 0-N
The exemption to the HOV passenger restrictions for hybrid vehicles with clean fuel plates expires on July 1, 2010. There has been legislation introduced to extend that exemption for an additional year, until July 1, 2011.
Retail Sales and Use Tax – Compensation for Collecting
HB1051 : Left in House Appropriations Committee!
SB542 : Left in Senate Finance Committee!
Legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate to eliminate dealer discounts and allowances for the retail sales and use tax, tire recycling fee, communications sales and use tax, cigarette and tobacco products tax, E-911 service tax, and fuels taxes. Under this legislation, any retailer who collects the 5% retail sales tax would no longer be compensated for doing so.
Estate Tax
HB223 : DEFEATED!
HB275 : DEFEATED!
SB714 : DEFEATED!
Several measures have been introduced to reinstate all or part of the estate tax if the federal estate tax phase out is not renewed.
General Employer Related Items
We are also involved in several issues that impact all employers generally, including proposed increases in unemployment insurance, new health insurance mandates and verification of the legal work status of employees. There are always many different bills introduced that effect Virginia employers and we work with our colleagues representing many groups to ensure Virginia employers do not see their costs skyrocket.