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To All,
This is an open letter to you, from Sen. Grothman’s aide Regina, with whom we’ve been working to draft the bill:
Begin forwarded message:
From: “Kolbow, Regina”
Date: February 6, 2012 8:23:00 PM CST
Subject: CLARIFICATION: WI LEGISLATIVE ALERT – MOTOR VEHICLE ENTHUSIAST -YOUR ACTION NEEDEDI am writing to clarify the intent of LRB 3267/1 The Registration Rights Act. There seems to be some confusion and I want to illuminate a few things. First, Senator Grothman is a supporter and protector of the collector car industry and all the specialty vehicles in this state. He is also a recognized SEMA legislative member. (SEMA supports our bill by the way, but they are waiting to speak out on it until it gets a bill number)
I am going to make an incredible long story short so if you want the long version call me….
Over the last few years we have seen the Wisconsin DOT become increasingly hostile towards specialty vehicles owners (collector cars, imports, military vehicles, anything not a Prius, etc). Most of you are aware of the TRANS 123 show down in which we temporarily stopped an extremely damaging administrative code proposal to the collector hobby. The problem is that the people in the DOT who are behind that administrative code proposal still work at the DOT and their philosophies will continue to assault specialty vehicle ownership until the Legislature passes a law to stop them. LRB 3267/1 is an attempt to protect ALL vehicle owners and LOOSEN current registration restrictions.
The following are a few examples of what has lead to this bill – this is however only a drop in the bucket. CURRENTLY the DOT has asked owners to produce paperwork that never existed or no longer exists. If they can’t or don’t, registration is denied. Other times the DOT claims a car doesn’t meet safety standards even if the vehicle clearly does and they deny registration. The owner has no ability to get a second opinion except through a costly and time consuming court appeal. The DOT has also made owners jump through many hoops at great cost to them, to only in the end deny registration anyway. OUR BILL LRB 3267/1 is an attempt to stop this nonsense. We can’t guarantee that this is a cure-all because the DOT I am sure will continue to cause trouble, but this is a step in the right direction. If you would like other examples of the DOT garbage our bill is attempting to stop, let me know.
Some folks are wondering “why the 5 alarm fire”. It’s not one. (Note: the legislative session ends in April and our bill has the best chances of passing in the current political environment) This bill has been in the process of being drafted for the last six months. We had to get it written right first. That is why you haven’t heard about this bill until now. Introducing a bill and asking other legislators for support is the first part of the legislative process. We do have limited time to get the bill through the legislature and get the Governor to sign it. So things will move quickly in the next month or so.
The more support we can garner the faster this thing will move. That is why it is so crucial that you contact your legislators and ask them to sign on. If you have contacted your legislators and either sent a vague email or have come out a against this bill, it is imperative that you contact them via their office phone number and clarify your position. You need to specify that you support LRB 3267/1 – this will cut down on any confusion inside the Capitol. Also, please forward this to your friends and family – anyone who also needs some clarification and can help us get this bill passed.
Thank you for your time and attention!
Sincerely,
Regina Kolbow
Office of Senator Grothman
Room 10 South, State Capitol
Phone: 608-266-7513
Toll Free: 1-800-662-1227Senator Grothman’s State of the Family Report
*All communications are subject to open records under Chapter 19, Wis. Stats.
