On the heels of the defeat of a U.S. Congressional proposal to create a national "Cash for Clunkers" program, SEMA helped turn back an effort in the Washington State Legislature that would have implemented a vehicle scrappage program for passenger vehicles more than 15 years old.
Under the bill, qualifying vehicles would have had to be registered for a 24-month period and in satisfactory operating condition. Replacement vehicles purchased under the plan would have been required to have an EPA highway gasoline mileage rating of at least 30 mpg.
Participants in the program were to be granted a sales-tax exemption for the first $2,000 of tax paid on the purchase price. All trade-in vehicles would have been destroyed, regardless of their historical value or collector interest.
For details, contact Steve McDonald at stevem@sema.org.