Advocacy

Nearly 700 Members. One Unified Voice.

Find your U.S. Congressional representatives and state legislators.

Check out the Press Releases below for more information on what’s happening in our government and how we are advocating for you.

“Our membership in the Alliance is an invaluable asset to our company. Most importantly, the Alliance works on legislative issues that are very important to our business and our industry.” – Jim Siegfried, AAM, Crystal Lake Automotive, Lakeville & Burnsville.

Contribute to the AASP-MN Political Action Committee!

The Alliance serves as the unified voice of the independent automotive service industry in Minnesota. Our representation at the State Capitol, before regulatory agencies and within the greater automotive service industry, has consistently produced direct and positive results for the day-to-day operations of your business.

We help ensure the future health of our industry by developing and maintaining relationships with those influencing policy affecting our industry. We introduce and advance legislation that helps member businesses and serve as a watchdog as various proposals move through the complicated process of becoming law. We alert our members to changes in policy that affect their business.

Here Are Some of the Alliance’s Accomplishments

Introduced and worked to advance legislation which would make it an unfair claims practice for an insurer to deny payment for repair operations and procedures performed in accordance with the original vehicle manufacturer’s documented technical procedures. (2019-2020)
Introduced legislation that would prohibit insurer steering for estimates and insurer mandates to utilize particular vendors and suppliers. (2014 and 2015).
Passed legislation that changes the point of imposition of sales tax on auto repair paint and materials from the wholesale to the retail level. (2013)
Passed legislation to change the definition of a “high-value vehicle” from $5,000 to $9,000 for salvage title purposes. (2013)
Fought back efforts to expand sales tax to auto repair labor. (2013)
Passed legislation to increase the damage disclosure threshold for salvage title from 70% to 80%. (2012)
Amended proposed legislation adopting California air emissions standards to remove the 15-year/150,000 mile warranty on air emissions equipment, which would have kept vehicles out of the independent repair market for a much longer period of time. (2008)
Passed legislation that prohibits insurers from unilaterally and arbitrarily disregarding a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system. (2008)

Warded off a measure to reduce the threshold for disclosure of motor vehicle damage from 70% to 60% of the cash value of the vehicle prior to sustaining damage. This legislation would have been detrimental to the collision repair industry by increasing the number of vehicles designated as “total loss.” (2008)
Provided information to the MN Department of Commerce that resulted in the investigation of three insurers in the areas of steering and short pays on labor and paint/material rates. In one case, a civil penalty of $20,000 was levied against the insurer. (2007- ongoing)
Passed legislation that prohibits insurers from adjusting a repair shop estimate without conducting a physical inspection of the vehicle. (2007)
Passed legislation that prohibits insurers from requiring that shops use a particular vendor for parts procurement. (2007)
Passed legislation that restricts insurer steering and strengthens consumers’ right to go to the repair shop of their choice. (2005)