Representatives of various state associations met at the Meadowlands Exposition Center on March 18 in Secaucus, New Jersey to update the collision repair industry on various legal and legislative goings-on in their respective states.

California

I-CAR Southwest Regional Manager Gene Lopez talked about how OSHA is cracking down on shops in the Golden State. In one case, six inspectors visited a shop for six hours and found only one violation: a faulty light switch. Still, the shop was written up.

Current legislative efforts, he said, include getting more funding for vo-tech schools and one bill that would require shops, if they replace a tire, to include a note on the final invoice detailing what the PSI was on all the tires before releasing the vehicle.

Hawaii

Dale Matsumoto, general manager of Auto Body Hawaii, said the 70-plus members of the Automotive Body & Paint Association of Hawaii were instrumental in defeating a bill on salvaged airbags. According to the bill's language, the use of salvaged airbags will now be banned.

The state also went from having no I-CAR instructors to having four, thanks, Matsumoto said, to I-CAR Southwest Regional Manager Gene Lopez.

Indiana

Newly elected chairman of the Society of Collision Repair Specialists Aaron Clark reported that the state association will be holdings it biannual regional show April 27-29.

Also, they have posted a labor rate survey on the Indiana Auto Body Association (IABA) website (www.iaba.info) which is open to any Indiana collision repairer, not just IABA members, to note their paint and material reimbursement rates as well as other rates. 

Iowa

Janet Chaney of the Iowa Collision Repair Association (ICRA) reported that members have been working on getting reimbursed for sales tax on paint and materials.

Also, ICRA stopped mobile collision repair and refinish franchise Color All from getting licensed to do business in Des Moines.

Chaney also announced ICRA's trade show, Iowa Collision Industry Day on May 3 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona.

Massachusetts

The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers-Massachusetts (AASP-MA) Executive Director Peter Abdelmaseh rehashed the merger of all three associations. The following week after the Northeast Forum, he said they were kicking off a program called "Education Matters" with technical information and business operations classes for repairers.

He also talked about the association's initiative to classify shops and affix a certain labor rate to each class of shop – in a state that currently has the lowest labor rate per hour in the country.

"We could see an 'A' shop go from $35 and change to the low $50s," he said.

He said the insurance companies claimed that would result in $26 more per consumer policy. But according to the collision contingent in Massachusetts, about 200 shops would get the "A" rate, which would result in $6 more per policy. Shops would see $26 million more from insurers. And Abdelmaseh says they have also emphasized that this could create 350 new jobs, in addition to 150 to 200 construction jobs, and $3.5 million in sales tax, too.

Montana

Janet Chaney described how the Montana Collision Repair Specialists (MCRS) is more than 20 years old, and even though most members have to drive a long to way to the meetings, about 50 percent of them do twice a year. They've been working hard at improving their estimating skills, and now they're moving into lean concepts.

Chaney relayed that MCRS played an integral role in getting an anti-steering bill passed a couple years ago. Currently, there are two bills in session, one on database manipulation and the other concerning the Department of Insurance, specifically making it possible for anyone, not just a consumer, to file a complaint.

Chaney's final note: a body shop owner, Max Yates, now represents his industry colleagues at the capitol as a state representative.

New Hampshire

Tony Lombardozzi of the Coalition for Collision Repair Excellence (CCRE) remarked that another licensing bill is on the table, but lamented on how the industry is still discussing the same issues it did 20 years ago.

"We need a different business philosophy," he said. "Government and legislation will not solve anything. We need to look at a different solution rather than fighting or suing insurers. You win little battles but continue to lose the war. You need to look in the mirror if you want to know who can change the industry."

He mentioned that CCRE is having its next meeting in Cleveland, Ohio April 8-9. It's there, he said, that repairers can learn a business philosophy that works.

"All the control insurers have we gave to them," he said. "Stay away from legislation. Watch your local government and see what legislation will affect your shop, but don't put in new legislation."

Lombardozzi also cautioned repairers about assignment of proceeds.

"It isn't a save-all for everyone," he said. "It's very powerful, and so if it's misused, it will come back and cost you a ton of money. Get documents written up, give them to an attorney and ask them whether this will work in your business environment."

New Jersey

Charlie Bryant, executive director of the AASP-NJ, detailed the association's fight against mobile repairers, citing a 1983 law that states that an auto body shop can only be located in a place that's properly zoned for collision work and the work has to be conducted inside a building, among other things. Every two years, shops are required to renew their licenses, and this year was a renewal year.

"The Motor Vehicle Commission decided to attempt to license mobile auto body repairers, and we objected to it strongly because the issue is already covered in the current licensing law," Bryant said.

According to Bryant, the state's argument was that these mobile repairers only repair small chips, but after some research, AASP-NJ was able to prove they in fact do heavy hits valued at $8,000 to $9,000. He then informed the crowd that the state has decided to indefinitely withdraw the plan to license these mobile repairers.

Bryant said the winter was good for repairers in New Jersey, but the economy there is still in a state where if a car is driveable, consumers are electing to not fix collision damage.

New York

Ed Kizenberger, executive director of the New York State Auto Collision Technicians Association (NYSACTA), did not describe a pretty picture for the Big Apple.

"The whole system is collapsing on itself," he said. "The pension burden on the tax base is unimaginable. Waste and spending has run amok, and we're having a meltdown."

Still, he praised NYSACTA for being a very active association that has been able to implement rules and laws.

"But we need to do a better job of enforcing what we have," he said.

Other goings-on include a material restrictions bill where anything labeled for professional use cannot be sold to amateurs, labor rate surveys, and numerous lawsuits over tortious interference using the appraisal clause and assignment of proceeds.

Oklahoma

Gary Wano, owner of GW & Son Auto Body in Oklahoma City, said that hail storms stimulated the industry in his area in 2010 and, as a result, stunted participation in the Oklahoma Auto Body Association.

Their newly elected insurance commissioner informed the association that the previous commissioner left 122 open investigations on fraud. Wano said repairers now feel they have a commissioner who believes he should be regulating the insurance industry.

Oregon

Ron Reichen, owner of Precision Body & Paint in Beaverton, informed the crowd of repairers that insurance carriers in his state are trying to lower the total loss threshold to well below 50 percent and package it as a consumer issue to the Attorney General's office.

"People are having their cars totaled and they're under water," Reichen said, noting that the Portland metro area has a population of 4 million. "We know insurers are getting premium dollars for salvage."

The Oregon Collision Repair Specialists are trying to educate repairers on P-page logic and business techniques to combat material capping, feather prime and block, and the blocking of sublet mark-ups, among other things. They're also trying to promote lean standards in shops.

Adding to the membership of the Tennessee Collision Repairers Association has been slow going, said Executive Director Tony Nethery, especially because repairers haven't forgotten a meeting of shop owners in the early 1980s that resulted in several repairers violating anti-trust laws. He said some went to prison, and others received $20,000 to $30,000 fines.

"We only have 40 members, and we haven't tackled legislation yet because they remember what happened," he said. "We're going the consumer education route."

They've expanded their annual event to two days, however, and managed to secure a retired Congressman to speak. Insurers will also be present to offer training on cycle time. Also, he said they were quite proud to get their name as a sponsor on a car running at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

Vermont

Mike Parker of Parker Classic Autoworks in Vermont said he used the state's "contract law" to sue Nationwide on behalf of 31 insureds for breaching its contract. He represented his customers in court through assignment of proceeds and filed three separate dockets, each under $5,000, so the case would be heard in small claims court versus Superior Court which he says is where Nationwide wanted it heard. He ended up winning a little over $11,000 for the insureds, plus interest assessed.

"It was my final invoice versus Nationwide's estimate," Parker said.