Bernie Moreno wants to give American car buyers their freedom back

Finally — a politician who knows something about the car business.

I’m talking about Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican who spent decades building a car dealership empire. That experience has led him to introduce legislation that would repeal emissions rules and give tax breaks to car manufacturers.

‘Thanks to liberal bureaucrats who want to mandate what cars Americans can drive, states like mine are riddled with car lots filled with expensive EVs people simply don’t want.’

Moreno, along with a few other GOP senators, introduced bill S.711 — named the Transportation Freedom Act — to the floor on February 25, 2025.

CAFE break

This bill would repeal the multi-pollutant emissions standards for light-duty and medium-duty vehicles, repeal the next phase of heavy-duty vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards; and repeal the Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules.

It would also eliminate vehicle emissions waivers and establish new passenger automobile standards.

This a glimmer of hope for the U.S. auto industry, which has been struggling to thrive in the face of inconsistent regulations, massive foreign competition, and misguided federal policies that hurt autoworkers, automakers, and consumers.

The Transportation Freedom Act seeks to make cars more affordable by eliminating government mandates that have caused vehicle prices to surge.

‘The only winner is China’

In introducing the bill, Moreno said: “Thanks to liberal bureaucrats who want to mandate what cars Americans can drive, states like mine are riddled with car lots filled with expensive EVs people simply don’t want and dormant factories that once employed millions of American workers. The only winner is China.”

Moreno says his bill would lower vehicle prices by “slashing onerous mandates that have made cars unaffordable to everyday Americans, like the EPA ‘tailpipe rule’ and California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.”

The bill would revoke the California rule to ensure that “all Americans — not just California politicians — have a say in our country’s transportation future.”

He says it would also end “arbitrary” CAFE fuel economy standards that require manufacturers to build vehicles “consumers simply do not want,” and it provides a six-month window for their replacement with tough but achievable standards.

Higher wages

It would also give carmakers a 200% tax deduction for wages paid to U.S. autoworkers, up to $150,000 per worker, and block companies from using the money they save for stock buybacks.

Deductions would be limited to producers of vehicles with at least 75% U.S. content and those that did not transfer production outside the United States in the past taxable year. To get the deduction, carmakers would also have to offer health insurance, profit-sharing plans, and retiree benefits to workers and remain neutral in labor organizing campaigns.

The bill is cosponsored by three other freshman Republican senators: Indiana’s Jim Banks, Montana’s Tim Sheehy, and West Virginia’s Jim Justice. It is backed by General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota, the National Automobile Dealers Association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, and American Trucking Associations.

‘A commonsense approach’

His bill is likely to face opposition from environmental organizations that said the fuel efficiency and emissions standards set during the Biden administration would fight climate change and protect public health.

A statement from Toyota executive Mark Templin called Moreno’s bill a “commonsense approach that will provide regulatory predictability” and allow the auto industry to invest in emission-reduction technology while providing affordable choices for consumers.

“The auto industry has been whipsawed by shifting emission regulations for decades. These swings have hurt auto companies, auto dealers, and autoworkers, ultimately driving up the cost of automobiles in America.”

A statement from Mark Stanton, NADA trade group president and CEO, said his group strongly supports Moreno’s proposed national fuel economy standard as something “achievable, affordable, and maintains consumer vehicle choice.”