Pub. 18 2019-2020 Issue 1

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S 7 new jersey auto retailer W W W . N J C A R . O R G NJ CAR’s political action committee, the Coalition of Automotive Retailers’ Political Action Committee (CAR- PAC), supports candidates (on both sides of the aisle) who support the franchised retail automotive industry in New Jersey. It plays a crucial role, ensuring the dealers’ voice is heard in Trenton on a wide variety of important public policy discussions that impact the industry. CAR-PAC is one of the most powerful and effective tools NJ CAR has to show our elected officials how engaged New Jersey dealers are in the political process. CAR-PAC helps the Coali- tion educate legislators on the many contributions New Jersey’s 510 neighborhood new car and truck dealerships make to the State’s economy and every city and town in which dealerships operate. It also helps the Coalition show decision-makers how proposed legislation will benefit ( or cause unintended harm to ) consumers and the auto retail industry. In 2018, 292 dealers made contributions to CAR-PAC ( See the attached list of dealerships on pages 28-30. ) That’s a great number, but nearly 220 dealerships did NOT contribute to CAR-PAC. These dealers may not understand the value of CAR-PAC (or political contributions in general) or maybe they are simply turned off by politics. Let me assure you, this isn’t about politics, I T’S ABOUT POLICY. CAR-PAC ensures dealers have a seat at the table when public policy issues that impact the industry are being discussed in the State House and we need all 510 New Jersey deal- erships to get behind the Coalition’s efforts on your behalf. I assure you, the money is well-spent. The contributions you make are used to support elected officials. In fact, during the 2017-2018 election cycle, CAR-PAC contributed more than $375,000 to candi- dates. So far, between January 1 and June 30, 2019, CAR-PAC has already collected more than $70,000 from 239 dealerships. NJ CAR also invests additional dollars outside of CAR-PAC to carry out education and political outreach efforts on legislative issues that can impact the industry both in the near-term and further down the road. We accomplish this through targeted grassroots efforts and other political organizing activities, which supplement your CAR-PAC contributions. Face-to-face visits, phone calls, letters, emails and social me- dia interaction with our elected officials can influence public perception of issues in extraordinary ways. That is why NJ CAR has launched an aggressive plan to build a robust grassroots net- work of industry supporters. There are 39,000 people who depend on New Jersey new car and truck dealerships for their livelihoods. Imagine the impact of a legislator receiving thousands of emails, calls or texts in support of or opposition to a particular piece of legislation. THAT gets an elected official’s attention. I’m sure you’ve already seen several emails from NJ CAR and you’ll continue to see more about the Coalition’s grassroots initia- tive. Anne Smith, NJ CAR’s newly-hired Dealer Member Liai- son, has also begun visiting every dealership to explain why the grassroots network is important and how it strengthens NJ CAR’s advocacy efforts. If you haven’t already done so, sign up for the NJ CAR Grassroots campaign at https://join.njcar.org or text “NJCAR” to 52886 on your mobile phone. CAR-PAC can’t do its job without the financial support of New Jersey’s new car and truck dealers. It relies on those contribu- tions to ensure it has the necessary financial resources to support elected officials who support the industry. CAR-PAC invoices are mailed four (4) times a year — in January, April, July and Octo- ber. We ask that you please honor them when they arrive. Keep in mind that New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission ( ELEC ) rules allow contributions up to $7,200 per business or jointly-controlled business. That is considerably more than the $600 per year ( $150 per quarter ) requested by CAR-PAC. In November 2019, all 80 Assembly seats will be on the ballot. There are a number of key Assembly races and one State Senate seat up for grabs this year. CAR-PAC will be very active in those elections, supporting both Democrats and Republications who support franchised new car and truck dealers. Every New Jersey franchised dealership benefits from CAR- PAC’s work and every single dealership should contribute their fair share so CAR-PAC is prepared to support the candidates who support the industry. If you have any questions about how much your dealership or dealership group can contribute this election cycle, please contact me directly at 609.883.5056, x330 or by email at jappleton@njcar.org . President’s MESSAGE | BY JAMES B. APPLETON CAR-PAC Plays Critical Role In NJ CAR’s Legislative Efforts