From the start of the new year, 2025 required that NJ CAR rev up its forces to achieve success in our two hottest priorities! The beginning of the year was hectic. While the new year highlighted how federal and state policies impact our dealers, it did not reveal an easy path to victory for our members. Navigating the federal and state legislative processes to produce solutions was demanding, but NJ CAR engaged and was part of the solution at both levels.
Motor Vehicle Open Recall and Fair Compensation Act, and Franchise Practices Act
We faced two contrasting arenas. While we were dared by a new U.S. Republican President who championed nullifying federal electric vehicle mandate policies, at the state level, we faced a term-limited New Jersey Democrat Governor who envisioned state environmental policies as part of his legacy. Also at the state level, we confronted a state Legislature that supported the Motor Vehicle Open Recall and Fair Compensation Act, our bill to amend the Franchise Practices Act to better address open recalls, provide fair compensation to technicians, and provide litigation standing to NJ CAR to better protect its members’ interests in court. Still, the bill had not moved since it was introduced in 2024.
NJ CAR stepped up to protect our members’ interests in each arena. We thank our members for joining us in this battle to secure our successes for these two priorities by the end of June 2025!
Failure in either of our priorities would have had devastating effects on our truck and auto dealers. By the time of this writing, NJ CAR can report that the priorities have been successfully addressed!
EV Mandates and Congressional Review Acts
One priority was to nullify the overreaching EV mandates from California adopted by New Jersey that posed an existential threat to our truck and auto dealers. Mission accomplished! These California mandates had been adopted by 11 other states, representing one-third of the auto market in the United States and crippling the dealers in each of them. NJ CAR hosted numerous meetings with state legislators, encouraging them to use their authority to nullify the state regulations. They were reminded of the detrimental impacts these EV mandates would have on our dealers and advised that these negative results would undermine the significant contributions made by our dealers in local and statewide economies. However, despite these facts, the state Legislature offered no relief from the mandates.
In contrast, NJ CAR’s efforts on the federal side were successful. Adapting to the opportunity presented by new federal leadership seeking to nullify the EV mandates from California, NJ CAR activated its NJ CARPOOL grassroots program and also contacted the New Jersey Congressional delegation to urge that Congress support the passage of the Congressional Review Act Resolutions for an ultimate signature by the President. Signed by President Trump on June 12, 2025, these three resolutions ended the EV mandates facing consumers in New Jersey: H.R.J.88, rescinding the waiver that enabled the California Air Resource Board (CARB) to impose California’s EV sales mandates on states like New Jersey; H.R.J.87, eliminating the EV mandate that required truck manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles beginning 2024, eventually reaching 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2036; and H.J.Res.89, nullifying the Omnibus Low NOx Rule that requires new diesel emission standards beginning in 2024. NJ CAR was part of that effort, and we thank our members who joined us in this federal campaign.
We achieved success in our other top priority, too! We worked hard to urge the State Legislature to pass the Motor Vehicle Open Recall and Fair Compensation Act before the start of the summer legislative break on June 30, 2025. The goal was to have the bill sent by June 30 to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Mission accomplished!
Next Steps and Looking Forward
Though a priority bill for NJ CAR with bipartisan sponsorship in the Legislature, the bill had not moved since it was introduced. The Assembly (A4380) and Senate (S3309) versions of the bill had been introduced on May 16, 2024, and May 20, 2024, respectively. However, starting March 6, 2025, both bills received committee hearings, were amended, substituted, and posted for a final vote in both houses by June 30. Despite oppositional efforts by the manufacturers, NJ CAR succeeded in encouraging the Legislature to approve the bill for final passage and it now awaits signature by the Governor. We thank our members who joined us in various meetings, testified with us at various legislative committee hearings, and voiced their support privately to legislators, further urging that they support our bill.
This has been an exciting first half of 2025! The second half of the year will be quite dynamic with the upcoming elections. As we often say — elections have consequences. We look forward to working with everyone as we navigate the upcoming activities of this November’s gubernatorial and Assembly elections and their results.
