NJ Senate to Vote on Lemon Law for Emergency Vehicles

The New Jersey State Senate will vote Thursday on the Lemon Law for emergency vehicles.

The two bills, A3396 and S2304, are on the calendar posted this morning. The Assembly passed the bill as submitted several months ago and sent it to the Senate. S23o4 underwent several changes after extensive negotiations with General Motors, Honda and other representatives of truck manufacturers. You can read the bill here. After reviewing the compromise language, the Senate Commerce Committee passed the bill to the Senate.

Thursday, the Senate will vote on both bills. The Assembly bill will be voted on with the new language. It must then go back to the Assembly for final passage so the identical bills are passed in both houses. The finished bill then goes to the governor for his signature.

Now is the time for you to shoot a quick email or make a quick phone call to let your senator know that he or she must vote in favor of this bill.  Click here to find out how to find out who your senator is and to send him or her a note.

Please send the email or make the call. It only takes a minute, but it can make a big difference. And please let us know that you’ve made the call or sent the email and share your thoughts with us. We’re so close. Get involved, please!

I wanted also to take a moment to remember two friends. Paramedic Randy Widdos,  MICP 1454, passed away on Christmas morning. He and I rode together on Medic-57  in Warren County. Randy knew the importance of getting involved and served on the governing body of his hometown and as deputy mayor.

On New Year’s Eve, Ed Vanderhoof passed away. Although he never worked in the field, he sold many of us ambulances and other vehicles over the years through different dealers. He understood what we do and was an enthusiastic supporter. He also stayed aware of and involved in politics in his home town because he understood the importance of the process.

Both men were in their early 50s; both men ended a long fight with cancer.

Lemon Law Update: Time to Lend a Hand

It’s time to make some noise and get Lemon Law protection from faulty emergency vehicles!

We’re getting very close to language that can go to the Senate floor, but we’re also getting very close to the end of the legislative session. We need you to get involved, or our attempts to gain protection for our emergency vehicles will die in committee.

I met again today with Senate staff and representatives of General Motors and Honda. While our opponents are being reasonable, they are still looking for ways to reshape the law to their advantage.  Results of the meeting include:

• A senate staffer will revist how we define the various companies that manufacture emergency vehicles. The definition is important to GM, who refuses to acknowledge that companies like Horton and E-One are manufacturers. I have no idea what else you’d call them, but I suspect we’re going to have three categories of organizations responsible for vehicles: manufacturers, i.e. GM, Ford, etc; co-manufacturers, i.e. companies that manufacture a major component and add it to the chassis, i.e. Horton, Braun, Pierce; and upfitters, i.e. the local dealer or converter who takes a completed chassis and modifies it to become an emergency vehicle.
• If the chassis manufacturer and other manufacturer can’t agree on who’s responsible for resolving the deficiency (legalese for problem), it’ll go to an already-existing arbitration process in the office of administrative law.
• Chassis manufacturers would not be held financially responsible for more than the value of their chassis.
• If an emergency vehicle is out of service for more than 20 days for the same issue, the Lemon Law would kick in. GM had wanted to move it to 45 days, similar to a motor home.

Let me say GM and Honda and everyone involved is working constructively.  But everyone is also trying to protect their own interests.

You have to understand that we’re at a critical juncture and we need support from emergency vehicle operators…NOW.

Everybody and their brother is trying to push through last-minute legislation. When the legislature goes  home later this month, it’s all over. We start from scratch in January and who knows what forces will come out to try to stop this bill: emergency vehicle dealers and manufacturers, other motor vehicle associations and manufacturers….it won’t be pretty.

So now’s the time that you need to start talking this up with your colleagues. If you’re a member of an emergency services group, please make sure that group is aware of these bills and is talking about them. You can start to let your legislators know this bill is coming and you want to see action.

Elsewhere on this blog are directions for finding out who your legislator is and writing to them. It’s very easy.

And if you’re in one of these towns, please pay special attention:

 Allendale, Allentown, Alpine, Bordentown, Bordentown City, Chesterfield, Clark, Clifton, Closter, Creskill, Demarest, Dumont, East Orange, Elizabeth, Emerson, Fanwood, Farmingdale, Fieldsboro,  Glen Ridge, Green Brook, Harrington Park, Haworth, Hillsdale, Hohokus, Howell, Jackson, Kenilworth, Lakewood, Linden, Middlesex, Montclair, Montvale, New Hanover, New Milford, North Plainfield, Northvale, Norwood, Old Tappan, Oradell, Park Ridge, Plainfield, Plumsted, Rahway, Ramsey, Robbinsville, Roosevelt, River Edge, Rivervale, Rockleigh, Roselle, Saddle River, Scotch Plains, Union Township, Upper Freehold, Upper Saddle River, Waldwick, Washington (Bergen), Westwood, Winfield, Woodcliff Lake and Woodland Park (West Paterson)

Your state senator is on the Senate Commerce Committee. You need to write him or her and let him or her know that this bill is important to you, that you are an emergency provider and that you vote (you are registered to vote, aren’t you?) and that you want him or her to vote this bill out of committee with a recommendation that it be passed.  It’s as simple as a quick email or a quick phone call.

If we don’t do these things, if we don’t get involved, the bill won’t get out of committee. It doesn’t matter how important it is or how noble our cause.  Legislators respond to squeaky wheels. It’s time to get really squeaky.

If you’re not sure how to find out who your legislator is, send me a note (just hit the comment section) and I’ll get the information back to you.

If there’s one thing firefighters, EMTs, medics and cops rarely are, it’s quiet. Don’t change now: Let’s make some noise.