Over the years, the RV industry has worked with the automobile industry and RV dealers in Nebraska and many other states to establish exemptions from parts of the automobile franchise law because those provisions do not pertain to the RV industry or are handled differently among RV manufacturers and dealers. The result is a patchwork of laws across the country that create confusion on which part of what provision applies to which industry and under what circumstances.
To resolve this, the RV Industry Association asked the Nebraska Senate to introduce legislation which would place the manufacturer-dealer relationship for RVs in a separate chapter of the state Code, allowing RV manufacturers and dealers to operate separately from the automobile industry in law as they do in fact. Senator Beau Ballard, vice chair of the Transportation Committee, has done just that with the introduction of LB 1121 last week.
This legislation is based on the model manufacturer-dealer agreement bill endorsed by both the RV Industry Association and the national RV Dealers Association. It is the product of negotiations last year between the RV Industry Association, Nebraska RV dealers and the Nebraska Auto Dealers Association, all of whom strongly support its approval. Passage of the legislation will strengthen the viability of the RV industry in Nebraska to the state’s benefit and that of consumers, manufacturers, and dealers alike.
LB 1121 has been referred to the Transportation and Telecommunication Committee, which is considering holding a hearing on the bill in early February. For more information on this legislation, please contact Michael Ochs, director of state affairs, at mochs@rvia.org.
