ATTN: Classic Car Owners: Leno's Law Is Now One Step Away from Final Approval

• The California classic car emissions exemption bill, colloquially known as "Leno's Law," has passed the California Senate in a 49-4 vote.
• The bill previously stalled in California's Assembly Appropriations Committee, but a new provision helped the bill pass the legislature.
• The bill, officially called Bill 1392, will now be sent to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for final approval and signing.

UPDATE 9/4/26: This story has been updated to show that Bill 1392 successfully passed in the California Senate with a bipartisan 49-4 vote. The bill will now be sent to California Governor Gavin Newsom for consideration before being signed into law.

The classic car community has another chance at passing the emissions exemption bill, popularly lauded as "Leno's Law." Introduced to the California legislature on February 20, 2026, California Senate Bill 1392 brings back Leno's Law after the original version, California Senate Bill 712, failed to pass into law last year.

The new bill is co-sponsored by Senators Shannon Grove and Dave Cortese. As before, Bill 1392 aims to carve out emissions testing exemptions for classic vehicles on a rolling basis, starting with 1981-model-year vehicles. While the last bill required cars to be registered as a collector motor vehicle to get the exemption, the new bill adds another provision. In an attempt to sway legislators, the new bill requires that, in addition to collector status, classic cars would not be used as the owner's primary mode of transportation.

"SB 1392, Leno’s Law, is a collaborative effort between Senator Cortese, Senator Grove, Jay Leno, a growing list of legislators in strong support, and SEMA. It has been refined from last year's SB 712 to maximize benefits to car enthusiasts while also ensuring the bill's ultimate success. Because of this, we are confident that the bill will pass," a spokesperson for Sen. Cortese said in a statement to our sister publication, Road & Track.

This story was originally published March 27, 2026.

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Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.