Congressman Jim Moran's News Commentary

Since the mid-1990's, the authority to regulate the towing industry has been in limbo. Through a provision slipped into the Federal Aviation Administration Act of 1994 that succeeded in defining the tow truck industry as an interstate carrier, state and local regulatory authority has been preempted. One year later in 1995, passage of the Interstate Commerce Termination Act struck down the federal regulatory body that oversaw the towing industry. Due to these actions, neither federal, state nor local governments have been able to adequately regulate the towing industry for the past decade.

It is unfortunate that a few bad apples continue to spoil the reputation of an otherwise respectable industry. As I'm sure many hapless Falls Church residents can attest, this lack of proper local regulatory authority has led to major consumer abuses in the Northern Virginia region. Whether it be overcharging someone an arm and a leg for parking illegally in an area with no signs properly designating the space, to a lack of ATM machines at tow lots who require cash only transactions to get your car out of impoundment, tow companies should be held accountable by state and local governments for non-consensual towing practices that do not take the consumer into account.

In an effort to stem this growing problem and return pre-1994 authority back to state and local governments, I have introduced the "State and Local Towing Enforcement Act" (H.R. 4860). This narrowly tailored legislation will give states and local governments the full authority to regulate the towing industry in the one area that the most abuses have occurred, non-consensual or "trespass" tows. H.R. 4860 would in essence codify a number of disparate court rulings that lack clarity, thus clearly allowing state and local governments the authority to enact pro-consumer regulations with respect to non-consensual tows.

Something is wrong when, in the absence of adequate federal regulatory oversight, local and state governments do not have the proper authority to protect their citizens against companies not conducting safe business practices. Falls Church Mayor Gardner and the City Council recognize the importance of this issue and have been supportive of my proposed initiative. In the coming months, I will continue raising awareness of this pressing problem and work for passage of H.R. 4860 to help return power to the local consumers in Falls Church.