WisDOT “Trans 123” Resurfaces

[Anonymous]

WisDOT’s Trans 123 has resurfaced, with a final draft having been submitted to the legislative committee.

The proposed rule will ban registration of post-1967 25+ year-old grey-market import vehicles, which is currently permitted under Wisconsin law.

Federal law allows import of these vehicles, but Wisconsin thinks they are unsafe and seeks to keep them from Wisconsin’s roads.

Today I received the following notice from WisDOT:

Quote:

From: Johnson, Julie – DOT
Date: Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Subject:
To:

Hi all,

Attached is the Final Draft version of ch. Trans 123 that was submitted today for legislative committee review. You asked at the time of the hearing that the Department e-mail you a copy when it is submitted to the Legislature for review.

Enjoy your day.

Jewels

Jewels Johnson
Paralegal / Legis. and Admin. Rules Coordinator
DOT Office of General Counsel
Room 115-B, Hill Farms
Madison, WI 53707
608-267-3703

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw

Here is a bit of WisDOT’s summary:

Quote:

“That is, even though federal law allows 25 year old vehicles that do not meet FMVSS (for the vehicles year of manufacture) to be imported lawfully into this country, Wisconsin will not register them for use on public roads.” (Pg. 4)

“This rule does not apply to any vehicle for which a statutory registration category exists in ch. 341, Stats., including homemade, reconstructed, replica, or street modified vehicles that are eligible for registration under s. 341.268, and former military vehicles that are eligible for registration under s. 341.269 or s. 341.266(2)(a).” (Pg. 3)

Please see the attachement for the full text of the proposed rule.

[file name=Trans_123_FD_Aug_10.pdf size=69213]http://www.wiscollectorcar.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/Trans_123_FD_Aug_10.pdf[/file]

Topic

[Anonymous]

Thank you to all of you who have signed the petition opposing Trans 123.

We could still use some more signatures however, and time is short.

If you have not yet, please circulate the petition link below, and sign it if you have not yet done so.
Petition in Opposition to Trans 123

[Anonymous]

Signed! I’m sending out some texts to visit and sign as well.

[moparkid25]

I won’t be able to make the hearing tomorrow :angry:

[Anonymous]

moparkid25 wrote:

Quote:

I won’t be able to make the hearing tomorrow :angry:

Sorry to hear that. I’ll be there with our 80+ signature petition in hand.

[Anonymous]

The hearing seemed to go well today.

Both the Assembly and Senate Transportation Committee members seemed skeptical regarding WisDOT’s claims that 25+ year old grey market imports presented public safety issues.

Carson Frazier testified as expected.

When asked for information regarding the numbers of affected vehicles currently registered, she said she had no information.

When asked for accident statistics regarding they affected grey-market imports, she again said she had no info.

That was pretty weak, Ms. Frazier!!

There was much testimony opposed to Trans 123, and apart from Ms. Frazier, none in favor.

I offer my sincere thanks to all who found the time to attend and/or testify.

I’m tired so I will leave it to others to further re-cap the hearing.

Or, you can watch the video:
http://www.wiseye.org/wisEye_programming/ARCHIVES-jointcommittees.html#4074

[moparkid25]

I watched the hearing last night. Looks as if our elected officials may see this bill as a total waste of time also.

[Anonymous]

I agree, that they are concerned that this proposal is a waste of time. But I’m not sure that they’ll actually toss it out.

Sen. Holperin, the Senate committee chair, made the suggestion that they might send it back to DOT in order that they handle it during a regular legislative session. There was no action taken, because there was insufficient notice published. The committees will have to meet again.

IF one committee or the other opposes it (remember, it was a “joint” meeting, with both Senate and Assembly committees), the proposal will go on to the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR). If JCRAR agrees with the first committee, it can get tossed out. If JCRAR disagrees with the first committee, they can override it and put the proposal into effect.

There was word from a couple legislative offices that there was a LOT of public calls/mail. This is awesome.

This still ain’t over yet. But yesterday’s hearing was a good next step.

Stay tuned…

[Anonymous]

This just keeps getting better. This is what Sen. Glenn Grothman wrote:

At the hearing yesterday (9-22-10) the WI Department of Motor Vehicles one more time showed the state of Wisconsin government at its worst. DMV thought that the cars in question would be illegal in Minnesota and Iowa. We have confirmed this is not so. Indeed the DMV cannot for certain name one other state in which these cars would be illegal. They led off presenting a chart showing a nationwide reduction in traffic fatalities but were unable to show one fatality caused by the motor vehicles they are trying to ban today.

As an aside, many of these cars are owned by businesses and community leaders. The behavior of the DMV just furthers the attitude that Wisconsin is an anti-freedom, anti-business state.

I will encourage the committee chairs to take a vote suspending this rule and ultimately, I feel we will win on this issue. However, it is frustrating that under our civil service rules the DMV bureaucrats responsible for this will keep their jobs and continue to boss around the citizens of Wisconsin unnecessarily in other ways.

Sincerely,

Glenn Grothman
State Senator
20th Senate District

I love his last sentence. I couldn’t agree more strongly.

FWIW, Sen. Grothman has proved to be a HUGE supporter of our hobby. I hope those of you who reside in his district will respond accordingly when it’s time for reelection.

Along this same line, Sen. Erpenbach stood up for our Pinzgauers during our fight. Please remember him at the polls too!!

Regards,
Paul

[Anonymous]

The video of last week’s Hearing is posted now on WisEye Click on: 09.22.10 | Joint Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Natural Resources

The video is lengthy. DOT’s Carson Frazier speaks first, and then everyone else takes their shots. Even the Committee members had a hard time understanding what all DOT’s fuss is about. It’s easy to see why Sen. Grothman wrote what he did. This is why I’m urging you all to participate in fighting to have TRANS-123 TOSSED OUT.

Thanks to all who are helping.
Paul

[Anonymous]

Just in. Sen. Holperin has decided to deal with Trans123, by ballot. At most this will send trans123 back to DOT for “modifications”. This is unfortunate since it precludes the possibility of a vote to reject it totally.

If/when it is reintroduced by DOT, the committees would only have 10 days to act, otherwise it goes into effect.

It is possible that the Assembly may also act to reject this proposal. Call Rep. Steinbrink and request that they reject Trans-123 (CHR 09-044).

Call Sen. Holperin’s office and ask that they convene an executive session and vote on this. Ask that they throw it out and make DOT go the normal route of getting a statute created or changed. That’s how laws are supposed to be created in this country.

Time is short. Act now.

Paul

Here’s the official notification:

Senator Holperin is circulating a paper ballot beginning this afternoon on a motion to send CR 09-044 back to the Department of Transportation for further modification.

Please return it to Senator Holperin’s office by Wednesday, October 6, before 2:00 P.M.

Senate

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources

The committee will hold an executive session on the following items at the time specified below:

Thursday, September 30, 2010
4:00 PM

Pursuant to Senate Rule 25 (4) (am), the committee on Transportation, Tourism, Forestry, and Natural Resources will vote by ballot on the following item:

Clearinghouse Rule 09-044
Relating to registration of non-standard vehicles.

A ballot on this motion will be circulated and due in the Committee Chair’s office, Room 409 South, State Capitol, by 2:00 P.M. on Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

[Anonymous]

More news:

I spoke today with a staffer from Rep. Steinbrink’s office. She is not the person in charge of this issue, but she gave me her understanding of things.

She understood that Rep. Steinbrink and Sen. Holperin met with the DOT (not sure who), and decided to send this back to DOT. She thinks they want to see the matter resolved legislatively during the next session. (This is the “normal” way to do things: have the Senate and Assembly pass a bill and the Governor sign it.)

She believes that it is now too late for DOT to reintroduce TRANS-123 to committee this year.

She thinks this is on hold for now. I’m working to get further info.

[lordairgtar]

Thanks for all your hard work on this. I am sorry I was not available to make the hearing last month due to job responsibilities. I am, however keeping an eye on this and will be waiting to hear more on this. In the meantime, be aware, join SEMA, read the car forums. I spoke with a member of the Mercedes-Benz Club and he was not aware of this. More people need to be aware. If you meet someone who is anyhow related to a car collecting club, inform them of it.

[Anonymous]

Hi Lord…

Thanks for your input. Your suggestion to join SEMA is right on. They’ve helped in getting people notified, via their email list.

Please continue to spread word of this throughout the collector car group. Please pass on my contact info to anyone who’s interested and/or involved. There are a lot of import enthusiasts who are not yet aware of what’s going on.

I’m not trying to be anyone’s “leader” or anything. But I’ve been actively fighting DOT’s efforts to expand their authority for the past 3 years (and counting), and I do what I can to pass info on to other folks. It’s probably safe to assume that DOT no longer likes me. :woohoo:

(Please see my recent post asking for info on current registration issues.)

It’s crap like this that makes me think twice about becoming an “out-of-state” driver. Maybe move to F.U. Michigan, population: 1.

Stay tuned, I have no intention of going silent.

Also just a reminder, there are elections coming up soon. I’m not trying to tell you who to vote for, but speaking personally, Sen. Jon Erpenbach stood by me when DOT illegally cancelled my registration and title. Sen. Erpenbach even introduced a bill to force DOT to register my truck, and got it signed into law!! I will vote for Sen. Erpenbach.

You need to make your own choice as to whom you support. All I’m saying is: get out there and vote, and use your best judgement in picking someone who will be there for you, if you need them.

Paul

[Anonymous]

Trans123 has been officially withdrawn as of Feb. 3, 2011, per notification signed by the DOT secretary.

Good news.

[moparkid25]

Paul-Underwood wrote:

Quote:

Trans123 has been officially withdrawn as of Feb. 3, 2011, per notification signed by the DOT secretary.

[strike]Good[/strike] GREAT NEWS.

Fixed it for ya, neighbor

[Author]

Replies