House Motor Vehicles Committee, March 11, 2026

Transcript

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1. 0:14:20

   All right, good morning, everybody. We're gonna... Can you hear it?

2. 0:14:26

   All right. We're gonna bring this meeting to order. Um, Representative Vance, would you mind doing a prayer? What, what number?

3. 0:14:34

   26.

4. 0:14:37

   Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Lord, uh, we're getting close to the end of this business session, and we ask that you lead, guide, and direct us, keep us calm, grant us all patience as we deliberate these bills that come before us. Um, be with the ones back home. Be with the people we've mentioned in different meetings that are, are sick. They need you as a great physician to help heal them, and be with their families. Be with, uh, Angie O'Steen's family since passing her dad, and the many others that have been mentioned.

5. 0:15:08

   So lead, guide, and direct us, Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.

6. 0:15:15

   All right, Mr. Chairman, we have Senate Bill 293.

7. 0:15:21

   Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hello. Hello.

8. 0:15:25

   We're good.

9. 0:15:25

   All right. We're good. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Uh, we have a substitute to Senate Bill 293 from last year. The, the original language in 293 got added to something else and was passed last year. So what, what I'm doing here with H- with, with H- Senate Bill 293, we're taking part of the language from House Bill 1267 that, that, that failed to make it, uh, across the floor last week. And, and House Bill 1267, it, it started, started out, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, like a, like a, like a full one-piece bathing suit.

10. 0:15:57

    It, it, it kind of covered everything, if you know what I mean. Uh, but, but now after, yeah, after our friends in the hall, you know, kind of distorted what the bill actually did, and, and GIADA, they, they sent out a notice to all their members that, that bent and stretched the truth to a point you couldn't even recognize it, uh, what, what the bill did. We now have, uh, us a bikini that, that covers just the bare minimum is what we have here. We've got a bikini. So, uh, let's talk about what 1293, I mean, uh, S- Senate Bill 293 does.

11. 0:16:28

    The first, uh, section one, one through 12, identical language, uh, to what we had, uh, in the original bill. Uh, that's, that's on the, uh, revises the penalties for certain offenses, uh, related to license plates, revalidation decals, uh, temporary operating permits, certificates of title, certificates of registration, and anybody altering odometer. That's the same as was in 1297, which nobody had issues with. Nobody brought any, any issue up with that. Uh, section two, we, uh, which was in the original bill also, uh, but we added, uh, on line 471 in section two, we didn't add, but just brought it over from the original bill, which nobody had issues with, and which actually the, the Used Car Board, this is one of their recommendations, is to, to be able to put an application, get a license, you have to be a resident of this state or list a agent, uh, for service of process who is a resident of the state.

12. 0:17:26

    That was one of their recommendations. Uh, 493, we did raise the bond to 50,000, which everybody had agreed on after much, uh, uh, de- debate or, or talk about, uh, to get to that point, 50,000, everybody agreed to that. Uh, and then we, in 502, uh, we, we, to be able to, a condition of license, you're, uh, y- you were given authority to the board or any peace officer. But to be a, to do the, uh, investigation it needs to be done, it's granting to the Department of Revenue as well, 'cause as the, uh, secretary of state guy, when he testified in the study committee, they, they have no way of knowing how many cars, uh, a dealer sells when they go do, do an investigation.

13. 0:18:15

    So for that, that part of it, that's housed at Department of Revenue. They have investigators. They, that will, uh, give them, uh, authority to, uh, to, uh, look at the, uh, inspect the records, documents, uh, of, of these dealers. That's, that's what the bill does. I'll stand for any questions.

14. 0:18:34

    Are there any questions? Nope. Chairman Prince.

15. 0:18:40

    Nope. Yeah.

16. 0:18:42

    Yep.

17. 0:18:42

    Thank you. Good morning, and thank you, Chairman, for, uh, bringing the bill. Uh, you mentioned what, uh, a lot about what it basically, you basically just transferred over, that everybody agreed to. What is it in here now that, uh, there may be issues with?

18. 0:18:55

    Uh, everything that's in here, nobody had an issue with.

19. 0:18:58

    Nobody had an issue with.

20. 0:18:59

    No- nobody had the ori-

21. 0:19:00

    Okay.

22. 0:19:00

    Everything that's in this was in the original 1267 that, that, uh, made it out of this committee. Uh, no, no issues with that. What, uh, after many, many calls from, uh, used car dealers to many of my colleagues, and I'll say, "Give them my number. I'll call them." So I call one down in Representative Meeks' district, and, uh, uh, she said, "You know, they're, they're, they're telling me I'm might have to have somebody in the office all the time. I'm gonna have to rebuild my building. My office is not big enough." I said, "No, ma'am, that don't have anything to do with that." But that's, I mean, it's information that was getting out there that, that was spread that was not true.

23. 0:19:33

    Uh, so, uh, there's, took all of that out. We're not moving, uh, the board. We're not creating an advisory council. Uh, and at the end of the day, that's, that's what, uh, seemed to be the issue, was the oversight. They, they, they didn't want the DOR having oversight over what was going on.

24. 0:19:50

    Well, listen, thank you for your work on this, as well as, uh, listening to, uh, not just, uh, the dealers, but, uh, the used, I mean all, all dealers and, and the committee members. So thank you very much.

25. 0:20:03

    Representative Taylor.

26. 0:20:05

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to make sure that we are, uh, because the reason we were going to the Department of Revenue was to get that oversight, was to be able to do- to get, reach in and determine who's selling, how much they're selling?

27. 0:20:19

    To, to, to verify the, the, what, in their records, they have to keep the, you know, the VIN numbers, the, the, the, the, the tops, anything that was issued, the relevant records to that, that sale. And, and now, uh, like I say, the Secretary of State's office, they said their investigators, like they have no way of telling, you know, how many cars that the dealer sold to actually verify their records against because they don't have access to it.

28. 0:20:38

    So how do you fix that with this bill?

29. 0:20:39

    Well, if you look, the last section, I'd tell, DOR has-

30. 0:20:42

    Access to

31. 0:20:43

    ... has investigators. But now, as a, as a condition of a licensure, they are granting them the authority to be able to inspect those records, which I think they should already have.

32. 0:20:52

    Right. Okay. Okay.

33. 0:20:53

    Uh, but this just allows now their investigators to just... Secretary of State's office can't investigate those, those records to determine that, and they didn't want to move it to the DOR. So now they have to have the, the authority where they can go out and actually do the investigating.

34. 0:21:05

    I just wanna make sure we've got some oversight.

35. 0:21:07

    Uh, they just-

36. 0:21:07

    Thank you.

37. 0:21:10

    Representative New.

38. 0:21:12

    Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Chairman. I appreciate it. Um, so with this bill, from the whatever version it was, is there anything new in here that has been added since one of those other-

39. 0:21:30

    Well, I, I think we did increase the penalty for a blank titling, uh, from, from, uh, from 100 to 750, and that's consistent with the other penalties that's in the bill.

40. 0:21:39

    And where is the-

41. 0:21:39

    Uh, it's still a misdemeanor. It didn't change-

42. 0:21:41

    Okay. And where is-

43. 0:21:42

    ... change that. And, and what... And let me tell you what drove that blank titling, why I decided to go back and, and, and increase that fee as well. Uh, Senator Goodman and myself, we got a call from a constituent last week. Uh, they tra- her daughter traded in a car back in December. Uh, the, uh, dealership apparently didn't transfer the title li- like, like they should. They kept it blank. They sold that car February 3rd, uh, to, to, uh, somebody from Florida. February 10th, the guy has a wreck. He has no insurance.

44. 0:22:12

    The last person that, that, on that title was this lady, and she was upset. Now, she's dealing, getting bills from a wrecker company, uh, to, to, for the wrecker fees from the Florida State Patrol, uh, you know, charging her for, for, uh, issues that dealt with something, a car she traded in. So that's why I said to go ahead and, and increase that, that fee as well. That just-

45. 0:22:33

    And the-

46. 0:22:33

    ... the timing of, of that, uh, uh, was, was kind of-

47. 0:22:37

    And what was that, uh, what was that increase? It was to what? 750 you said?

48. 0:22:41

    750, and that's consistent with all the rest of them.

49. 0:22:43

    Okay.

50. 0:22:43

    And then, uh, I think far as the APA part, that was in the original bill we had the other day that we passed out of here the last, last time we met on it.

51. 0:22:51

    And you said the APA. Where's that in the bill?

52. 0:22:54

    Uh, it's right there before you get to Section 2. It is grant-

53. 0:23:00

    Do you know what line it is?

54. 0:23:01

    Section 2.1.

55. 0:23:04

    Section 2.1.

56. 0:23:04

    Section 2.1.

57. 0:23:04

    Yeah, 46- line 460.

58. 0:23:06

    Thank you. Thank you.

59. 0:23:10

    But, but that was in the, uh, bill we passed out, the...

60. 0:23:17

    Seven. Should've just checked. Should have the legislature.

61. 0:23:24

    Thank you.

62. 0:23:24

    No, no, that, that wasn't new. That was, that was in the bill we passed out.

63. 0:23:27

    Okay.

64. 0:23:27

    I just, uh...

65. 0:23:30

    Repre- Representative McClain.

66. 0:23:34

    Sorry. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Chairman, for, uh, making sure the bill, uh, looks good. I guess you did explain what was on line 411, that you went from 100 to 750, and that was the reason that-

67. 0:23:46

    And, and, and that, that's the reason. Now, we got... And you, you know, call Senator R- Russ Goodman right now, and he can tell you. He, he, he linked me in on the call, and I talked with this lady at length for probably an hour, uh, w- trying to g- get her some... You know, we can't... And I told her we probably couldn't, couldn't help that, you know, back- back, going backwards to he- help that issue, but maybe we can do something going forward.

68. 0:24:05

    And I want to say thank you. I mean, I did... You know, like I say, 100 to 750 is, is quite a bit, but I guess if it's, if it's standard, I don't see a problem with that. Uh, and I guess on line 471, you said that, uh, is a resident of this state or lists an agent for service or process who is a resident of this state. So I guess you were trying to make sure that we had someone-

69. 0:24:28

    You, you got somewhere to contact. You, you got all these, uh-

70. 0:24:30

    Okay. I wanted to make sure that-

71. 0:24:31

    ... come-and-diggers, uh, out of New York. And like I said before, a New York, uh, Department of Driver Services commissioner, he told our commissioner the, the, the worst case of fraud he's seeing in, in, in New York is with Georgia temporary operating permits. Uh, so now y- they have to have somebody, a listed agent. We, we, they've got somewhere to go, uh, to, to contact. Yes, sir.

72. 0:24:50

    Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

73. 0:24:53

    Representative Alexander.

74. 0:24:55

    Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I'm just a little concerned because we start out with the Senate bill for a license plate, and now it's some of everything in this bill.

75. 0:25:06

    It's, it's all-

76. 0:25:06

    Haven't really had time to look at it and read it all the way through. But I know the other bill was about, um, moving from the Secretary of State to the Department of Revenue. Where is that covered in here?

77. 0:25:19

    It, it's not. We're not moving it. We're, we're not moving. That's, that was taken out completely. And, and it's in Title 40, so it's in, in the same title.

78. 0:25:26

    Right. On the-

79. 0:25:26

    Same code section.

80. 0:25:27

    Okay. I just saw on the back page where it mentioned something about the Department of Revenue, um-

81. 0:25:32

    That, that's just where it, and, gives them the authority. You're, you're adding them, and we had done that in the r- the bill we had before. Uh, you give the Department of Revenue the, the... You sign off, and it's a condition to get a used car license, uh, that you're granting them the, the authority to come in and look at your records, uh, and then, you know, to see. 'Cause they, they're the ones with the data. They... It's the Secretary of State, you know, they told us they can't do it, so you got that gap. So I think this will help, help close that gap. Department of Revenue has got investigators, uh, that, that can g- go out to, to look at those, to verify the, the, the sales and the VIN numbers and all that match up with legitimate sales.

82. 0:26:07

    Right.

83. 0:26:08

    So.

84. 0:26:09

    Okay. Um, just haven't had... I, I really haven't had time to look at it. But-

85. 0:26:15

    Well, like, like I say, we, we've seen everything in, in here mul- multiple times. It's, it's, it's the same. We just took out the part where we're moving, uh, creating an advisory council. That's gone. Moving, doing away with the functions of the board. That's gone

86. 0:26:27

    Okay. Thank you.

87. 0:26:30

    I miss Send you that title. There's a sheet in that packet that describes everything.

88. 0:26:41

    On the second page. All right. Chairman Taylor.

89. 0:26:46

    Yeah. Oh, thank you.

90. 0:26:47

    I'm sorry. I got, got Chairman Powell on my mind.

91. 0:26:51

    Um, oh, I lost my train of thought. Oh, oh, oh. You have to come back now 'cause they, that just threw me off. But it was dealing with, I was thinking in regards to something that Rep Alexander was saying. Um,

92. 0:27:06

    uh, nevermind. Just something I-

93. 0:27:10

    Are there any more questions? Well- All right. The proper time is now. Make a motion. Yes, sir. Second.

94. 0:27:19

    Thank you, Mr. Chair.

95. 0:27:20

    Well, we have a... Well, Representative Taylor.

96. 0:27:25

    Thank you. Um, so let me... I just have a follow-up question in regards to the board. So the, the appointment of the board remains the same?

97. 0:27:33

    We, we, we do not touch the board. They're just like they are.

98. 0:27:36

    So, and they are being appointed by?

99. 0:27:38

    Rep, uh, the, the governor I think appoints them.

100. 0:27:40

     So the governor still maintains the authority to appoint the board in this bill?

101. 0:27:44

     The, the, the appointments, the, the number of members, the authority, the functions, we're not touching. What it is today, yesterday, and all before us. We're, we're not, we're not touching the board. It's not, it's not in here.

102. 0:27:55

     One of their concerns, but okay. Thank

103. 0:28:01

     you.

104. 0:28:01

     Representative Ridley? Make a motion to be passed. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. All those against? Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. Thank you. And that's all we have today. Thank you, guys, for your time.