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How California Car Enthusiasts Helped Pass Leno’s Law—and What It Covers

California’s Leno’s Law was signed in 2026 after a broad enthusiast coalition backed a limited, phased smog-check exemption for qualifying collector vehicles.
Entry884 Date Time4 min MechanicCarCody Team

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California’s Leno’s Law is enacted: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB 1392 on September 16, 2026. Car clubs, lowrider groups, collectors, mechanics, families and automotive businesses helped build support for a limited smog-check exemption for qualifying collector vehicles. The exemption begins January 1, 2028, phases in by model year and does not cover every older car.

What is Leno’s Law in California?

Leno’s Law, also called Jay Leno’s Law, is SB 1392, a California measure creating a phased smog-check exemption for certain collector vehicles. The bill passed the Legislature 49–4 on August 31, 2026, according to SEMA’s passage announcement, and was signed September 16, 2026, according to SEMA’s signing announcement.

The current law followed a failed 2025 effort, SB 712. Sen. Shannon Grove’s office says she authored that first version, which did not pass. In 2026, Sen. Dave Cortese authored SB 1392, with Grove as principal coauthor. The earlier proposal’s details should not be confused with the enacted measure: SB 1392 has its own phase-in and eligibility conditions.

Measure Year and author Outcome What it means
SB 712 2025; authored by Sen. Shannon Grove Failed An earlier proposal; its committee-stage provisions are not the final SB 1392 rules. Grove’s historical SB 712 update describes that version.
SB 1392 2026; authored by Sen. Dave Cortese, with Sen. Shannon Grove as principal coauthor Passed 49–4 and signed September 16, 2026 The enacted, phased exemption described in the current sponsor and association announcements.

How enthusiasts helped move the bill

The support described by lawmakers and SEMA was a coalition, not just a celebrity campaign. It brought together car clubs, lowrider groups, collectors, mechanics, families, preservation advocates and restoration businesses. Jay Leno supported the effort, but the public accounts also name community advocates such as lowrider advocate Francine Mata and restoration-shop co-owner Carmen Vera.

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Lowrider groups made support visible

The clearest mobilization figure in the accounts is more than 1,700 support letters submitted by California lowrider groups, reported by SEMA and the Los Angeles Times. Those letters helped show legislators that the bill mattered across automotive communities and cultural traditions, not only to collectors of high-value cars.

Advocates framed preservation as a shared interest

Supporters emphasized vehicles maintained for shows, parades, charity events and historical preservation, including cars passed between generations. Sen. Shannon Grove credited statewide support from enthusiasts, mechanics and families. SEMA described a coalition that crossed party lines and cultural communities. These are advocates’ accounts of how support contributed; they do not establish that any single group or individual was solely responsible for passage.

The bill’s design also gave proponents a bounded policy to advocate for: a narrow group of vehicles used sparingly, rather than a general change to smog rules for older daily drivers. Jay Leno said after signing that Republicans and Democrats worked together and credited Cortese, Grove and Newsom. That is his characterization of the bipartisan effort, rather than an independent assessment of what determined the vote.

Which cars are covered, and when does the exemption start?

SB 1392’s exemption starts January 1, 2028, and phases in by model year. It initially applies to qualifying vehicles manufactured before model year 1981, then adds one model year each year until it reaches vehicles manufactured before model year 1986 in 2033. The practical collector range described by the sources is 1976–1985. Vehicles manufactured before 1976 already have an existing exemption; SB 1392 does not replace or newly create that exemption.

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Effective date Vehicles newly within the phase-in
January 1, 2028 Manufactured before model year 1981
Each year after 2028 through 2033 One additional model year is added annually
2033 Manufactured before model year 1986

The schedule and practical year range are reported by Sen. Grove’s signing announcement, SEMA and the Los Angeles Times. It is not an immediate exemption for all cars over a certain age.

What conditions apply to qualifying collector vehicles?

The sponsor and association summaries describe the exemption as limited to collector use rather than everyday transportation. Qualifying use includes shows, parades, charitable functions, exhibitions and historical preservation. The owner must carry collector-car insurance or document use below 1,000 miles annually. SEMA says the DMV is to establish a mileage-verification process by 2030.

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These summaries do not provide the full enrolled statutory text or future DMV procedures. Owners should not treat the summaries as a registration ruling for a particular vehicle; exact application and verification details depend on the law and the implementing process. SEMA’s account of the conditions is available in its signing announcement.

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Why did the bill face opposition?

Public-health and environmental opponents cited by the Los Angeles Times argued that loosening smog-check requirements can increase harmful exhaust emissions. Supporters responded that the vehicles covered are used infrequently and primarily for collector purposes. Sen. Cortese, as quoted by SEMA, contrasted a car brought out for a parade, show or charity event with a daily commuter.

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Those arguments describe the competing policy cases; they are not an independent measurement of SB 1392’s emissions effect. No independent emissions estimate for this specific law is established in the cited accounts. Cortese also said that less than 1% of California registered cars fall within the model-year range covered, as reported by the Los Angeles Times; that figure is attributed to him, not an independently verified fleet estimate here.

What the passage says about the coalition

The campaign’s clearest lesson is that preservation advocates made a case in more than one register: historical and cultural value, the role of local clubs and restoration businesses, and a narrowly defined use case. The documented support letters from lowrider groups provide a concrete example of organized participation; lawmakers and SEMA credited a broader coalition with helping build bipartisan support.

SEMA also cited the scale of California’s automotive aftermarket—more than 1,500 member businesses in the state and nearly 150,000 jobs supported—as context for the community backing the effort. Those are trade-association figures about the sector, not an estimate of jobs or economic activity created by Leno’s Law.

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