Given the outsized influence that states play in regulating the automotive specialty-equipment aftermarket industry, SEMA recognized long ago the importance of forging relationships with some of the most powerful state lawmakers in the country, and the results speak for themselves.

SEMA officially chartered the State Automotive Enthusiast Leadership Caucus in 2005. It was the byproduct of long-standing relationships with legislators around the country. The caucus is a nonpartisan group of state lawmakers who love automobiles and appreciate the important role the industry plays as an economic driver in communities across the United States. Working in their state capitals, caucus members preserve and protect the industry by seeking to improve existing motor vehicle laws and creating new programs to safeguard and expand the hobby.

Currently led by West Virginia Delegate Gary Howell (R), these state-level legislators have been responsible for a range of pro-industry legislation, such as titling and registration for custom cars and street rods, reducing the tax burden on collector-car owners, implementing commonsense exhaust-noise testing programs and emissions exemptions, allowing single rear license plates, and abolishing ethanol requirements in gasoline.

The state caucus, now comprised of more than 750 members, is a vital tool for SEMA’s efforts to protect the industry. It has also been valuable to SEMA’s efforts to work with Congress, as many state caucus members have gone on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. To see if your state lawmaker is a member of the caucus, visit www.semasan.com. For more information on the caucus, contact Daniel Ingber via email at danieli@sema.org.