Agricultural News
Right to Repair Measure Introduced in US Senate
Mon, 21 Mar 2022 06:39:50 CDT
U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Fair Repair Act of 2022, which will protect consumers, farmers, and small businesses by ensuring the right to repair. This bipartisan legislation will level the playing field by ensuring that manufacturers do not lock out owners and independent service providers from providing repairs by denying access to parts, tools, and documentation. Once signed into law, the Fair Repair Act will require manufacturers of electronic equipment to make the same tools, parts, and documentation available to owners and independent repair providers, covering a variety of industries such as agricultural equipment, consumer electronics, medical equipment, and motor vehicles.
This bipartisan effort to increase access to repair for consumer goods will greatly reduce waste, reliance on foreign-manufactured chips, and empower small-businesses and farmers to repair their own equipment. Nationally, right-to-repair legislation is overwhelmingly supported among Democrats, Republicans and Independents. The bill is supported by a wide variety of organizations, including the National Farmers Union, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, the New Mexico Chile Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, the Repair Association, Consumer Reports, The Public Interest Research Group, and iFixit.
"Whether you own a smart phone or a tractor, this legislation will help all consumers," said Luján. "When owners can't get their devices and equipment affordably repaired and serviced, consumers, farmers, and small-business owners pay the price. Too many manufacturers have made it nearly impossible for consumers to service their own equipment or seek independent repairs. The Fair Repair Act fights corporate greed and takes a critical step to protect consumers. I am eager to get it signed into law."
"The COVID-19 pandemic coupled with geopolitical conflict has resulted in broken supply chains across a multitude of industries," said Lummis. This raises the cost of electronic equipment and repairs on consumers and small businesses in Wyoming, both of which are often rural and a long distance away from the nearest dealership or computer store. Manufacturers should have to make tools, parts, and documentation of these goods available to bring down costs and speed repairs. I'm proud to support the Fair Repair Act with Senators Ron Wyden and Ben Ray Luján to give consumers, independent repair companies, and small businesses what they need to get rid of monopolies on certified repairs of everything from technology to agricultural equipment to cars."
"When you buy something, you shouldn't have to pay extra, or ask special permission from a corporation just to get it fixed," Wyden said. "The Fair Repair Act is a common-sense step to put users in control of the phones and other electronics they already own. I'm glad to work with Sen. Luján and Sen. Lummis to help enshrine the right to repair in black-letter law."
"It's common-sense: When something breaks you fix it," said Nathan Proctor, U.S. PIRG Senior Campaign Director, Right to Repair. "But when only the manufacturer or their authorized shop can fix your device, they can charge as much as they want and force you into buying an upgrade. It's time to remove manufacturer-imposed barriers to repair and get back to fixing things like we've always done. We are proud to support this bipartisan, pro-environment, pro-consumer, and pro-small business bill."
"Equipment manufacturers are imposing unfair restrictions on agricultural machinery repair, costing farmers time and money," said President Rob Larew, National Farmers Union. "Each season, farmers face tight harvest and planting windows, not to mention tight margins, and they simply cannot afford limited and unreasonably expensive repair costs on their tractors. We appreciate Senators Luján, Lummis and Wyden for introducing the Fair Repair Act to expand repair choices for farmers, ranchers, and others."
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