I've just returned from my 8th NADA Washington Conference
representing South Dakota dealers. While I'm always proud to represent our
state's dealers, I especially enjoy the Washington Conference for several
reasons.
We always have as many dealers as any other state at the
conference, which considering our numbers, is impressive enough. Our delegation
is always engaged and up to speed on the issues. We have had an impressive
NextGen dealer each year the program has been in place. Significantly, we
always have a good time at the event!
Trace, Darrel, and Bruce kept up the tradition of a strong
delegation of South Dakota dealers - they understand and communicate the issues
to our Congressional delegation so well. Myron has great rapport with Noem,
Thune and Johnson's offices and so many at NADA as well. Max Patnoe is a truly
impressive young man. We can look forward to him being a strong voice for
dealer issues.
So I was especially proud to be one of more than 400 new-car
dealers and dealer association executives from across the country urging
lawmakers to support NADA’s top priority issue, H.R. 5403, which rescinds the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s flawed guidance on auto lending (see
below). We spoke to Senators Thune and Johnson. We were not able to see Representative
Noem because she was voting (they actually take votes in the House!). We did
speak to a staffer in her office.
In a nutshell, Senator Thune supports our issues but
everything that could be considered "our issues" is in the 300+ bill
log jam that Harry Reid has created between the House and the Senate. Representative
Noem is supportive of our agenda. Senator Johnson told us that none of our
issues would be discussed before his term expires.
It was a successful conference. Thanks to Trace, Darrel, Bruce,
Max and Myron for doing the important job of being the "Voice of the
Dealer" in our nation's Capitol.
NADA, NAMAD and AIADA
Issue Statement on CFPB Proposal
In response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s
proposal
to oversee larger nonbank auto finance companies, the National Automobile
Dealers Association (NADA), the National Association of Minority Automobile
Dealers (NAMAD) and the American International Automobile Dealers Association
(AIADA) issued the following statement:
“As stated on numerous occasions, NADA, NAMAD and AIADA
strongly oppose discrimination in any form and fully support the efforts of the
CFPB, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and other federal
agencies to eliminate it from the marketplace.
“However, the CFPB has again failed to fully disclose its
methodology for measuring for the presence of disparate impact. There are
legitimate, market-based reasons for disparities in interest rates – from
monthly budget constraints, to the presence of more competitive offers, to
inventory reduction considerations – all of which are nondiscriminatory and all
of which can be documented in the transaction. A better solution would be for
lenders to adopt a robust retail compliance program that documents the basis of
the pricing decision to effectively reduce the risk of discrimination in the
purchasing process. The Department of Justice has created such a risk
mitigation model, and we encourage the bureau not to overlook this common sense
approach to addressing fair credit risks in the auto financing market.
“With respect to the proxy methodology report released by
the CFPB, many of the questions that Congress and others have asked remain
unanswered. We look forward to rigorous peer review to ensure that the tools
the bureau is using to address fair credit concerns may actually accomplish its
goals.”
OSHA Repeals Dealer
Recordkeeping Exemptions
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently
repealed a number of industry exemptions from its mandate that employers with
11 or more employees keep a workplace injury and illness log, including one for
car dealers that dates back to the 1980s. Effective January 1, 2015, car
dealers must use OSHA Form 300 to record workplace injuries and illnesses. By February 1, 2016, they must also post an
OSHA Form 300A summary of the workplace injury and illnesses that occurred in
2015. Dealers can access an
OSHA
fact sheet on the rule and an
online
tool to train employees on how to fill out the newly required forms.
As a concession, the final rule contains a commitment by
OSHA to review the efficacy of today’s changes in two years, the direct result
of NADA’s unwavering opposition to the exemption repeal, first proposed by OSHA
in 2011. Regulatory Affairs will soon issue an all-member FAQ on the topic.
Questions can be directed to NADA Regulatory Affairs at 703.821.7040 or
regulatoryaffairs@nada.org.
