Auto Rental News, January 2020

6 Fact Book 2020 AUTO RENTAL NEWS MANY STATES BEGAN TO ADVANCE LEGISLATION REGULATING PEERTO PEER CAR SHARING ACRA SUPPORTED A NUMBER OF BILLS THAT SOUGHT TO CREATE AS MUCH PARITY BETWEEN THE PEERTO PEER SEGMENT OF THE INDUSTRY AND OTHERS OPERATING IN THE MOBILITY INDUSTRY Maryland After a multi year effort the industry achieved a great win in Maryland regarding primary liability The legislation passed and signed into law this year places the renters insurance as primary in all rental transactions Prior to passage the industry was primary for retail transactions and secondary for insurance replacement rentals This bill ensures all transactions are the same for primary liability purposes The industry continues to pursue legislation in the handful of states that still require rental car companies to be primary California The legislature passed and the governor signed legislation that shortens the period when rental car companies may declare a vehicle as stolen Prior to this bill becoming law the industry had to wait five days with no returned vehicle despite outreach efforts to the customer before being allowed to contact authorities This bill is a huge leap forward to allow our members to engage law enforcement more quickly to help return our assets A similar law passed in Texas as well that shortens the timeframe for members to engage law enforcement and updates the modes of communication acceptable for outreach to rental customers Also in California the industry worked to mitigate issues surrounding Prop 65 which requires businesses to provide warnings to consumers and employees in California before knowingly and intentionally causing significant exposures to certain chemicals known to cause cancer Given the broad language in the law the industry was included After a six month process OEHHA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment proposed new rules establishing a safe harbor for rental vehicle contaminant warnings Hawaii The industry fought off an onerous requirement in the Aloha State The bill if enacted would have required that all rental car companies doing business in Hawaii have fully electric vehicles account for at least half of its rental fleet ACRA educated legislators on the impracticalities of this legislation and the extreme challenges this would have presented our members The legislation was set aside but the issue will likely come back in the next session Also in Hawaii despite objections from ACRA the legislature did increase the statewide rental car tax from 3 per day to 5 per day Burlington Vermont The industry also beat back a rental tax for the City of Burlington Vermont New York City However the New York legislature increased the rental tax for New York Citys boroughs from 5 to 6 In doing so the legislature authorized all other counties to impose a rental car tax so long as the funds are dedicated to transit ACRA believes this tax could violate the new federal law requiring such taxes to support airports if the tax is levied on an airport business The industry is weighing its options Lubbock Texas A similar situation exists in Lubbock where voters approved a 5 rental car tax to fund an expo center However the tax was approved and implemented after the new federal law New York ACRA helped to kill legislation that would have dramatically increased the minimum insurance limits that rental car companies would have to provide This would essentially nullify the Graves Amendment in New York Missouri and Kansas Both states passed legislation that became law that allows rental car companies to utilize fleet plates This will allow for a more efficient process for large fleets to register plate and get cars on the road Prior to this legislation our members stood in line at the DMV multiple times to receive their allocation of plates There is a growing list of states moving in this direction Florida Colorado and Illinois All passed legislation allowing for electronic verification of drivers licenses This updates the law to better reflect technology advances and industry practices Nevada The legislature passed ACRAsupported legislation that increases the price of Loss Damage Waiver or Collision Damage Waiver to 150 for vehicles with an MSRP of 55000 or more Multiple States Many states began to advance legislation regulating peerto peer car sharing ACRA supported a number of bills that sought to create as much parity between the peer topeer segment of the industry and others operating in the mobility industry ACRA supports and welcomes all innovation including by the peer to peer segment in fact ACRA has encouraged several of the companies to join ACRA At the same time ACRA takes the position that operators in this segment should abide by longstanding consumer protection laws collect and remit the same taxes and airport rules just as our members do ACRA firmly believes that if all segments could work together on legislation we could accomplish good for the entire industry Legislation did pass and become law in Maryland Colorado Ohio Indiana and Maine