Auto Rental News, January 2020

4 Fact Book 2020 AUTO RENTAL NEWS T ACRA RECAPS 2019 LEGISLATIVE AND PUBLIC POLICY ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES THE AMERICAN CAR RENTAL ASSOCIATION ACRA WAS ONCE AGAIN extremely busy in 2019 on the legislative and public policy fronts There were multiple issues in many states that ACRA either supported or opposed on behalf of its members The goal of course is to help lawmakers at the federal state and local levels create the best possible environment for our members to operate their businesses and serve their customers At ACRA we take this responsibility seriously and remain committed to being actively engaged on these issues Below are some highlights of the issues from this past year WASHINGTON D C Federal legislation to prevent future discriminatory excise taxes on car rental customers was introduced in Sept 2019 by Representatives Cohen D TN and Chabot R OH and has received the endorsement of ACRAs Board of Directors You may recall that ACRA achieved a partial victory in the FAA reauthorization bill in 2018 by limiting the use of discriminatory taxes at airports to airport purposes However there is still more work to do ACRA continued to position itself in 2019 as the thought leader and de facto manager of a broad coalition of stakeholders united by their desire to have vehicle owners control vehicle data access now and in the future For federal autonomous vehicle legislation the ACRA founded U S Vehicle Data Access Coalition is the go to group for elected leaders Hill staff and federal agency personnel on fleet issues and autonomous vehicles In 2019 ACRA expanded its work nationally regarding data access and protection and helped to pass state insurance reforms while it continues to challenge local rental car excise taxes ACRAS MISSION STATEMENT The American Car Rental Association was founded to better monitor and document legal public policy and legislative issues affecting our industry ACRA helps drive industry and category growth by advocating and lobbying with elected officials on behalf of all rental car industry competitors consumer advocates and other key stakeholders at the federal state and municipal levels For federal vehicle data access legislation ACRA has expanded the U S Vehicle Data Access Coalition to include insurers consumer groups aftermarket manufacturers independent garages truck and light duty fleets and telematics companies and garnered consensus on U S federal data access legislation ACRA is a founding member of the Global Alliance for Vehicle Data Access which coordinates research and information dissemination on vehicle data access issues across the globe ACRA has initiated a coalition of stakeholders to back federal legislation to establish standardized methods to delete personal data from vehicles when they are traded in or at the end of a rental ACRA hosted its largest Government Affairs Conference to date in Washington D C in Sept 2019 meeting with legislators stakeholders and staff in the U S Capitol The group held over 70 meetings with elected officials and their staffs to press for action on federal policies to benefit all car rental operators ACRAPAC ACRAs political action committee hosted its largest PAC reception during the 2019 ACRA Government Affairs Conference and distributed over 20000 to elected officials who attended the reception where those officials mingled with ACRA regular and associate members and met their local constituents CITY AND STATE INITIATIVES Michigan The state legislature and governor finally came together to reform no fault insurance Michigan had been the only state that had unlimited lifetime no fault benefits for medical expenses which was a huge cost driver for our industry The legislation repealed those lifetime benefits and essentially removed the requirement for the rental car industry to provide such benefits As owners of vehicles the industry must still maintain and provide the minimum financial limits when necessary