Right-to-Repair Bills Gain Bipartisan Support in Statehouses

Legislation that gives consumers greater flexibility in repairing products from smartphones to farm equipment is uniting Republicans and Democrats at the state level.

Political gridlock at the federal level has hindered efforts to compel manufacturers to disclose technical details and make parts more available for repairs. By contrast, more than 30 states considered such right-to-repair bills in 2023—states as diverse as Texas and Hawaii.

“I will say that bills that are coming up are becoming more aligned with stuff that both sides could maybe work towards,” said Montana state Rep. Llewelyn Jones (R) during a Wednesday panel at the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Indianapolis. Jones said he would like Montana to become the latest state to allow farmers to fix their own equipment, rather than wasting time and money on manufacturer repairs.

Bipartisanship has become an increasingly key component in expanding the legislative effort nationwide over the past decade, according to Gay Gordon-Byrne of The Repair Association, a group that advocates for such laws. The fact that more than 40 states have considered right-to-repair bills in some form over the past 10 years demonstrates its appeal across ideological and geographic divides, she added.

“There should be one law that means that when you buy something, it’s yours. But that’s not the way we’re set up,” she said. “We have to go state by state. We’ve got to go industry by industry until there’s some uniformity, perhaps out of Congress.”

Massachusetts passed such legislation affecting automobiles in 2012. New York and Minnesota have passed bills over the past year giving more rights to consumers who own electronic devices. Colorado became the first state to greenlight the right to repair for farm equipment earlier this year.

Hawaii state Rep. Scott Nishimoto (D) said on the panel that he initially saw bipartisan opposition to the legislation he introduced in 2018, which would affect electronics. That resistance morphed into growing support on both sides of the aisle that helped the bill pass committee last year in his chamber.

“It was bipartisan, both Republicans and Democrats and also reps in rural areas, which is a huge change,” he said.

Key Challenges Loom

Opposition from manufacturers has held up legislation in many states over concerns that right-to-repair laws would make them surrender trade secrets alongside the profits they make from their monopoly on repairing products like cell phones, wheelchairs, and farm equipment.

Walter Alcorn of the Consumer Technology Association said on the panel that businesses are becoming more receptive to the idea.

“We support sharing the same diagnostic tools, spare parts, software updates with independent repair shops and consumers as authorized repair facilities,” he said. There are still concerns over the legal responsibility manufacturers might retain after their products get repaired by others, he said.

More states could pass their own version of the legislation next year. However, the emerging bipartisan comity could erode as the 2024 elections get closer, making passage more questionable, Jones noted. He added that one particularly contentious race in Montana could make it more difficult for Democrats and Republicans to work together on local issues.

“There’s still obviously a political factor to it. We have probably one of the deciding US Senate races [that] is going to occur in the country,” he said. “The US Senate race is probably making it a little more partisan than it sometimes is, but I do believe there is work being done.”