Bill excludes overbroad recall and so-called “right to repair” legislation

The President is expected to sign today the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, a multi-year bill to improve roads, bridges, ports, rail and broadband. The Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) does not increase income taxes or expand social programs – those initiatives are part of the separate $1.75 trillion “Democrat only” reconciliation bill, the “Build Back Better Act,” currently being negotiated.

Below are the provisions in the IIJA affecting dealers. The IIJA:

  • does not contain any provisions adverse to dealers, such as Federal preemption of state franchise laws, so-called “right to repair” legislation, or the unwarranted grounding of all used vehicles with open safety recalls, thanks to the multi-year grassroots efforts of dealers and ATAEs;
  • provides $7.5 billion to create a national network of public EV recharging stations (consumer EV incentives are currently part of the Build Back Better Act). Of that total, $5 billion will be appropriated through a state formula program, and $2.5 billion in competitive federal grants will be awarded to the states to develop alternative fuel corridors, including electric, hydrogen, and natural gas fueling infrastructure. These funds will be prioritized for rural, disadvantaged, and hard to reach communities;
  • expands an NADA-supported voluntary state grant program which alerts owners of recalls during the vehicle re-registration process, which has been shown to increase recall completion rates;
  • includes a study by NHTSA on recalls, including possible consumer incentives to increase recall completions;
  • does not reform the insolvent Highway Trust Fund or change the funding mechanisms, and neither increases nor repeals the federal excise tax on heavy-duty trucks;
  • includes a pilot project to examine a national Vehicle Miles Traveled program; and
  • retroactively ends the employee retention tax credit on October 1, 2021, rather than on December 31, 2021, thus limiting its availability to the first three quarters of 2021.

NADA thanks all the dealers, and especially the ATAEs, who successfully advocated for the dealer position on Capitol Hill during the nearly year-long negotiation on this bill. See NADA legislative priorities here.

Desmond Roberts
Chairman
NADA Legislative Affairs Committee