Assembly Committee votes to ban Toyotas from state fleet

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Don’t look for any more Toyotas in the state Assembly’s parking spaces at the state Capitol garage.

The Assembly Rules Committee, which handles housekeeping matters for the 80 members and their staff, voted 7-0 to stop purchasing the Japanese automaker’s cars used for cruising around Sacramento. The committee’s seven Democratic members supported the resolution, while four Republicans did not vote.

The lower chamber of the Legislature currently has 87 of Toyota’s gas-electric hybrid cars in its 133-vehicle fleet.

Rules Committee Chairman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) said he proposed the action for two reasons: He’s upset with Toyota’s current safety recalls and the company’s decision to shutter the state’s last auto manufacturing plant in Fremont early this year

‘The state of California has been good to Toyota as a customer and provides one of the largest marketplaces for their vehicles,’ he said. ‘But I feel that Toyota has gone back on its commitment to their customers.’

Lieu noted that the Assembly is returning to a traditional ‘buy American’ policy that it dropped in 2003 when environmentally sensitive politicians said they wanted to drive low-polluting hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius. But such cars are now widely available from U.S. companies. Lieu noted.

-- Marc Lifsher