The California Motor Vehicle Glass Act has been placed in a “suspended” file and its development has ceased. The Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) had filed a statement and strongly urged state senators to either amend out the anti-competitive provisions or suspend the bill.
California Senator Tim Grayson (D) introduced SB 988, also known as the California Motor Vehicle Glass Act, on Feb. 5. The bill follows model legislation created by the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), which has been adopted in several other states. The bill passed the California Senate on April 15 and was sent to the appropriations committee.
The California Motor Vehicle Glass Act has been placed in a “suspended” file and its development has ceased. Photo: Missvain, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.AGSC submitted a letter, signed by Association president Jacques Navant, objecting to certain provisions of SB 988 on April 23. The letter encouraged legislators to amend the “anti-competitive” provisions of the bill that require auto glass shops to obtain a claim number before service, introducing a third-party administrator into the customer-shop owner transaction.
“AGSC and the small and independent auto glass shops it represents are not asking for special treatment; we are asking only for a fair and transparent system, currently lacking in several provisions of SB 988 as presently worded and requiring adjustments,” the letter reads. “Absent these adjustments, SB 988 may warrant careful further consideration on the Suspense File.”
According to legislation records, the committee chose the second of the two options AGSC recommended and put SB 988 in the “Suspense File” on April 27.
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s website says the Suspense File process allows the committee extra time to evaluate the bill’s fiscal impacts. A bill qualifies for the Suspense File “if the cost of a bill is determined to be $50,000 or more to the general fund or $150,000 or more to a special fund,” according to the committee’s website. Once in the Suspense File, the bill undergoes a vote-only suspense hearing without any discussion of the bill and then either proceeds back to the Senate floor or is held in the committee “under submission.”
California news outlets like Cap Radio and CalMatters report that the Suspense File effectively kills about a quarter to a third of the bills that end up there.
“This is a huge win for AGSC and the shops it represents,” says Jacques Navant. “I look forward to continuing this initiative in other states.”
The AGSC letter supported portions of the bill that address Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) recalibration practices and provide for consumer education about the importance of recalibration. AGSC urged legislators to require California auto glass technicians to be certified by AGSC or another external source.
Read AGSC’s letter to the California Senate Appropriations Committee HERE.