[S]upporters of the right-to-repair movement plan to introduce considerably pared-down legislation this year after hearing from lobbyists and others over the summer.
Sen. Chris Pearson, P/D-Chittenden, sponsored right-to-repair legislation in 2017 after hearing about similar legislation in other states at a conference. The movement seeks to pass legislation to require the electronics industry to make available authorized parts so that independent stores and individuals can repair consumer electronic products, including phones, tablets and computers. Many electronics manufacturers invalidate warranties if repairs or modifications are made anywhere other than authorized shops.
Supporters say requiring electronics companies to release parts for use by individuals and in unauthorized repair shops would save consumers money by providing more repair options and would keep more electronic devices out of landfills.
The Legislature set up a task force last year to look into the matter. After leading five summer and fall hearings on the legislation where lobbyists for national electronics manufacturing groups testified against the measure, Pearson said this month that he was scaling back his original proposal. It was clear from lobbyists’ testimony that electronics equipment manufacturers would sue if the original bill passed, he said.
The new measure, modeled after a 2003 California law, requires manufacturers that offer an express warranty on an electronic or appliance to make parts and service information available for a certain number of years, depending on the price of the product. Courts have construed this requirement to require the manufacturer to make the parts and information available only to authorized repair providers, not to independents.
“It’s more modest, but it’s already law in a few places,” said Pearson of his new proposal, which he hasn’t yet introduced.
The original proposal was “something industry folks would challenge in court, that was one of the themes that became clear in our task for this summer,” he said. “We heard legal opinions on both sides of those issues, some saying this is sound legal ground, some saying it is patently unconstitutional. If Vermont wants to move forward, we better be ready to go to court.”
No state has passed right-to-repair legislation so far.
A national group called the Repair Association lobbies on behalf of people who want to repair their own devices or get them fixed in an unauthorized shop. Executive Director Gay Gordon-Byrne said it’s illegal for manufacturers to void warranties if consumers choose to repair their property or have it repaired by an independent shop.
“This is the same law that protects you from losing you warranty if you do your own oil change on your car,” Gordon-Byrne said.
Some Vermont small business owners and managers also testified to the task force in favor of right to repair, saying that legislation is needed to protect a robust economy of small companies that fix broken devices. One was Robin Ingenthron of American Retroworks Inc. in Middlebury. The company employs dozens of people in salvaging, fixing and selling used devices and appliances.
“A well-written law will protect manufacturers from frivolous claims, but prevent the invention of a future “smart chip” which could sabotage products salvaged by secondhand buyers,” Ingenthron wrote to the task force last fall. “Such a chip has already been placed on ink cartridges. If manufacturers affix such a chip to secondhand boards and replacement parts, it will cost companies like mine millions of dollars in secondhand reuse sales, and deny poorer Vermonters the economic benefits of secondhand sales.”
Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden and the chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, and Rep. Michael Marcotte, R-Coventry and chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, both said they would be open to taking up the matter if they see a bill modeled on the California law.
Pearson said he expects he’ll need to be patient as he seeks to educate constituents and lawmakers about the issue.
“Maybe one day we’ll get there,” he said. “I’m looking for how we can keep making progress while we build the discussion and get a better understanding of how it might impact Vermont and our ability to fix our own stuff or have a local repair business work on the things we buy. It’s a very important issue for Vermonters.”
