I feel sick: House passes cash for clunkers bill
So the news came down last night that the House of Representatives passed Betty Sutton’s H.R.2640, the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act, which we know better as one of the several cash for clunkers bills making their way through Congress. Despite all the news about c4c getting attached to tobacco bills or war funding bills, this one seemed to have gone through all on its own, with a 298-119 vote.
The passed bill – which still has to make it through the Senate before President Obama can sign it into law – is the compromise version introduced last month and, after reading through the entire text of the bill, it doesn’t seem to include SEMA’s 25-year exclusion, as Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s bill (S.1135) does.
There is still hope for the Senate’s inclusion of a 25-year provision, which as we’ve said before is the best we collector car enthusiasts can hope for (aside from a complete dismissal of the bill, which isn’t likely).
UPDATE (11.June 2009): My bad. The House passed H.R.2751, so unconfusingly also introduced by Sutton and also labeled the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act. And in Sec.2(i)(7)(C), it explicitly limits cars built in 1984 or earlier. So here’s hoping the SEMA exclusion remains as the bill goes through the Senate, which Stabenow said could happen this week.
Our earlier objection to the spirit of the bill still stands. If you want to encourage younger people to get active in the collector car hobby, don’t take their cars away from them and expect them to be as passionate about your cars as you are. H.R.2751, while it preserves your cars, does nothing to save their cars.