SEMA's Kei Truck Wins in Colorado and Texas: Inside HB 1281 and SB 1816

For the better part of a decade, kei truck owners in the United States have been fighting the same fight in 50 different state legislatures. One state issues plates. The next one revokes them. A third quietly looks the other way. The federal 25-year import rule says you can bring the truck in, but it says nothing about whether you can drive it down to the hardware store. Owners have been stuck in legal purgatory ever since.

In 2025, two states finally cracked the pattern. Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed House Bill 25-1281 on May 9. Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1816 a few weeks later, with an effective date of September 1. Both bills got pushed across the finish line by the same organization: the SEMA Action Network, the lobbying arm of the Specialty Equipment Market Association. SEMA called it a "small trucks, big win" moment. They were right.

But Colorado and Texas got there in completely different ways, and the laws they ended up with do not look the same. One is fully effective today. The other does not turn on until 2028. One has a 55 mph speed cap. The other does not. Anyone with a Suzuki Carry, Honda Acty, Daihatsu Hijet, or Mitsubishi Minicab sitting in the driveway needs to understand which model their state is more likely to copy, because the next dozen states will pick from one of these two playbooks.

What SEMA Actually Did

SEMA is best known for putting on the giant aftermarket trade show in Las Vegas every November, but the SEMA Action Network has been the quiet workhorse behind a long list of vehicle related state bills. Lemon laws, emissions exemptions for collector cars, restorations and rebuilt titles. Kei trucks were a logical next fight because the constituency was small, motivated, and being treated unfairly by states that had already taken their money.

The kei truck push is being run by Victor Muñoz, SEMA's senior manager of state government affairs. According to SEMA's own release on the wins, the organization framed both bills around the economic case. Colorado has a $3.9 billion specialty equipment industry that supports more than 17,000 jobs. Texas weighs in at $24.7 billion and almost 100,000 jobs. Telling state legislators that a registration ban is leaving aftermarket money on the table is a more durable argument than telling them kei trucks are cute.

The advocacy was not just SEMA, though. In Texas, the local push came from an Instagram group called Lone Star Kei. As Felicity Guajardo reported in Texas Standard, founder David McChristian called every single state legislator and explained what the trucks were and why the registration ban made no sense. That groundwork is what got the Texas DMV to start accepting registrations in 2024, before SB 1816 codified the practice into statute. In Colorado, the push came from working ranchers, mountain town owners, and the Colorado kei community organizing through Facebook groups and the r/keitruck subreddit.

The lesson is that SEMA does not show up unless someone shows up first. If your state is not making progress, the answer is probably not waiting for an industry group to ride in. The answer is the Lone Star Kei model. One person with an Instagram and a phone.

Texas SB 1816: From Patchwork to Codified Law

Texas was already the better of the two states for kei truck owners before SB 1816 hit Governor Abbott's desk. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles had been quietly issuing registrations administratively since 2024, after years of inconsistent treatment at the county level. In some Texas counties you would walk into the tax assessor's office and walk out with plates. In other counties they would tell you the truck was an off highway vehicle and refuse the application. The experience varied wildly across all 254 counties.

SB 1816 fixes that. The law creates a new "miniature vehicle" classification in the Texas Transportation Code, mandates essential safety equipment, and explicitly aligns with the federal 25-year import standard. Vehicles built in 2001 or earlier qualify under the 2026 calendar. Vehicles newer than that do not, which is exactly the same line the federal rule draws. There is no Texas state speed cap, no road class restriction, and no special inspection regime targeting kei trucks specifically. Once you have the title and registration, the truck is a vehicle like any other vehicle. TxDMV handles it the same way the agency handles your neighbor's pickup.

The other thing Texas did in 2025 made the kei truck path even smoother. HB 3297, a separate bill, eliminated mandatory annual safety inspections for non commercial vehicles effective January 1, 2025. A flat $7.50 inspection program replacement fee gets folded into your registration instead. Emissions testing still applies in Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, and the other designated counties, but most 25 year old kei trucks are exempt from emissions testing anyway. The combined effect is that a kei truck owner in San Antonio in 2026 has a registration experience that looks almost identical to registering a 1998 Toyota Corolla.

For a deeper Texas registration walkthrough including documentation, fees, and county specific tips, see our full Texas state law guide.

Colorado HB 25-1281: The 55 mph Compromise

Colorado's law is the more newsworthy of the two and the more frustrating. HB 25-1281 passed unanimously in both chambers, which is rare for any bill in a polarized legislature, and Governor Polis signed it on May 9, 2025. The law redefines a kei vehicle as a four wheeled car or truck under 140 inches long, 67 inches wide or less, with a top speed of at least 50 mph and an enclosed passenger cab. Internal combustion under 1,000cc, electric motors under 56,000 watts. That definition catches almost every kei truck and kei van that has ever been imported under the 25 year rule.

Then the law adds a catch.

Kei vehicles in Colorado are prohibited from operating on roadways with speed limits greater than 55 mph, and they are completely banned from limited access highways regardless of speed. That means no Interstate 25, no Interstate 70, no Interstate 76, no controlled access portions of the state route system. As Andre Smirnov noted at TFLcar, the speed restriction is "honestly, not a reasonable restriction, especially on highways like I-25 or I-70." TFLcar is based in Boulder. They drive these roads every day. The criticism stings because it is correct.

Colorado also delayed the law's effect by more than two years. Licensed dealers cannot legally sell kei vehicles in Colorado until July 1, 2027, and owners cannot register their trucks until January 1, 2028. The legislature also opened a referendum window: a petition filed within 90 days of the next legislative session adjournment can force the law onto the November 2026 ballot. So Colorado kei truck owners spent 2025 celebrating a bill that does not actually let them drive their trucks for another two and a half years, with a non zero chance of voters killing parts of it before then.

The good news inside HB 25-1281 is the anti discrimination language. The law explicitly states that the Department of Revenue, the Colorado State Patrol, and their contractors may not require special inspections of kei vehicles or declare them non roadworthy because of their design. Kei trucks in emissions counties also get the simpler two speed idle test instead of the dynamometer test, which is a meaningful win for older carbureted models. Once January 2028 rolls around, the on the books experience for Colorado owners will be reasonable. The 55 mph cap is the only sticking point, and it mostly hurts mountain owners who would otherwise commute on I-70.

For the full Colorado registration walkthrough including emissions specifics and the timeline, see our Colorado state law guide.

Why the Two Wins Look So Different

It is worth asking why SEMA backed two such different bills. SEMA does not write the laws. State legislators do. SEMA's job is to support whatever vehicle has a real chance of moving, then push it across the finish line. The federal regulatory backdrop on kei trucks is also unsettled, as the law firm Covington & Burling outlined in a December 2025 analysis, which means state level deals will keep being where the action is for years.

In Texas, the political environment was permissive. The DMV was already issuing registrations. Texas does not generally regulate vehicle road class by engine size. The legislature could codify what was already happening on the ground without picking a fight with anyone. SB 1816 is a cleanup bill more than a reform bill, and that is why it has no speed cap and no two year delay.

In Colorado, the political environment required compromise. Colorado has a stronger emissions and safety regulatory tradition, the highway patrol had concerns about kei trucks on interstates at altitude, and the bill needed to clear committees that would have killed a wide open version. The 55 mph cap and the limited access highway ban are what unanimous passage cost. SEMA took the deal because the alternative was no bill at all.

The takeaway for advocates in other states: figure out which path your state is more likely to follow before drafting legislation. Permissive vehicle codes and existing administrative kei registrations point to the Texas model. Strong emissions programs and a history of restrictive classifications point to the Colorado model.

What This Means for Your Kei Truck

Practically, in 2026, the Colorado and Texas wins matter very differently depending on where you actually live.

If you own a kei truck in Texas, the situation is now as clean as it has ever been. You can title and register a 25 year old kei truck at any of the 254 county tax assessor offices. You do not need a safety inspection. You can drive it on any road. Insurance is the only friction point left, and most major specialty insurers including Hagerty will write a policy. The Texas registration experience is now better than it is in most "kei truck legal" states.

If you own a kei truck in Colorado, you are still in waiting mode until 2028. Your truck is currently a property and trail vehicle. You can drive it on private land, on dirt and gravel back country roads at owner risk, and at organized off road events. You cannot legally register or operate it on Colorado public roads until the registration window opens on January 1, 2028. The 55 mph cap and interstate ban will limit your route options once the law goes live, but most rural and mountain town driving is well within the restriction.

If you own a kei truck in any other state, the Colorado and Texas wins matter for you mostly because they create precedent. SEMA can now point to two states with two different models, both passed unanimously or near unanimously, and tell legislators in Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Oregon, and elsewhere that the world has not ended. The cost of inaction is also rising: every month a state stays in limbo is another month that owners are paying registration fees in neighboring states, parts dollars are flowing to other markets, and aftermarket businesses are losing local customers. For the full state by state breakdown of where every state actually stands in 2026, see our kei truck laws state by state update.

The States That Could Be Next

Texas Standard reported that Texas joined 28 other states in formal kei legalization. The back half of the map is still big, and the most active 2026 pushes are in New England and the Midwest. Owners tracking specific bills should bookmark r/minitrucks, where state level legislative news is posted faster than most outlets cover it.

Maine has SP 884 sitting in committee, the legislative follow on to a year long working group study. We covered the politics in Maine SP 884: The Bill That Could Reverse the Kei Truck Ban. Vermont passed a kei truck legalization bill in 2025 that we wrote about in Vermont's mini truck day. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have all had bills introduced in the past two sessions, with varying momentum.

Oregon's path is the cautionary tale. We covered why Oregon's 2024 bill died in Oregon kei truck bill dead. The short version: the bill got loaded with side issues that scared off swing votes, and the proponents did not have a Lone Star Kei equivalent doing the legislator by legislator outreach. Other states should learn from this. Keep the bill narrow. Build a local presence. Get SEMA involved early.

In the Midwest, watch Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. Pennsylvania has the most active enthusiast community of the four but also the most restrictive current treatment. Illinois has a state law that already authorizes mini trucks but a Secretary of State's office that has historically refused to issue plates, the kind of contradiction a clean SB 1816 style bill could fix in one session.

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Sign up for SEMA Action Network alerts, find your local kei truck Facebook or Discord, and call your state senator and representative. Two states proved it can work. Twenty more will not move on their own.

The Bottom Line

Colorado HB 25-1281 and Texas SB 1816 are the most consequential pieces of kei truck legislation ever signed in the United States. They prove that a 25 year old kei truck is a legitimate motor vehicle that deserves a license plate, not a regulatory orphan that gets registered or revoked at the whim of an administrator. The Drive and other automotive outlets have been covering the trend for years, and the SEMA wins finally give state legislatures a working template instead of a debate.

Texas got the better bill. No speed cap, immediate effect, no referendum window, same registration experience as any other vehicle. Colorado got the bigger symbolic win because it was first, but the 55 mph cap and the 2028 effective date take some shine off. If your state is debating which model to copy, copy Texas.

Either model beats the patchwork owners have been living with for a decade. After ten years of asking, two states finally said yes. Twenty more need to.

If you are a current owner trying to figure out where you stand, start with our complete state legality guide. If you are thinking about buying, our pre purchase checklist and import guide cover the rest of the process. The legal door is finally opening. The trucks are still waiting.