Update: Right to Repair bill fails in Massachusetts
Happily, the Right to Repair bill in Massachusetts went down to defeat in the state legislature when the lower house there failed to report out a bill that had passed the state Senate. If passed, the bill would have required automakers to provide diagnostic and software information to non-dealer auto repair shops. Similar legislation has come forward and continues to come up in Congress and in other states.
As reported, here and elsewhere, the Massachusetts legislation did gain enough votes in the state Senate, but the later loss of momentum in the House added Massachusetts to a list of states with failed attempts at passing right to repair legislation. This news can be seen as a victory for the auto industry- -both manufacturers and dealers- -which had serious issues with the proposal. Interestingly, manufacturers and dealers were joined in opposition of the bill by independent repair shops, public safety groups and labor unions, all of whom saw the negative ramifications of the passing of such a measure.
Representative Walsh, a Massachusetts lawmaker who had originally backed the bill, said the actual interests pushing this legislation and its corresponding ad campaign are large, aftermarket parts companies looking to expand profits under the guise of consumer protection. This observation touches on what many who were against the bill believe to be the underlying motive of supporters: to gain access to confidential parts manufacturing information in order to re-manufacture the original parts and make cheaper versions.
The passage of this legislation would set a dangerous precedent that could have a devastating impact on our economy, warned Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. It would result in manufacturing jobs going oversees to places like China where the production of knock-off auto parts is big business.
Right to repair proponents say that they will not give up in their efforts to pass such legislation requiring OEM associations and dealer associations at all levels to remain united in their vigilance to keep such public policy proposals in the bad idea drawer.
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