Last week, Minnesota governor Tim Walz signed an omnibus bill that includes a comprehensive right to repair law requiring manufacturers to make spare parts, repair information, and tools available to consumers and repair shops. This law builds on smaller, but still significant, wins in Colorado, Massachusetts, and New York. California could be next. "The Right to Repair" Act (S.B. 244), just passed the California Senate and is on its way to the State Assembly.
The right to repair movement has a lot of momentum. In 2022, Colorado passed a law that gave wheelchair users access to the resources they need to repair their own chairs, and the state followed that up with another targeted bill giving farmers and ranchers the right to repair agricultural equipment. Massachusetts has passed several measures around car repairs. Last year we also got the first broad consumer right to repair legislation in New York, though that bill took a big step backward at the last moment.
After a disappointing loss in California last year, we are happy to see California’s legislators revisit the issues with the new "Right to Repair" Act. The bill requires manufacturers of electronic and appliance products to provide repair manuals, replacement parts, and tools. It includes all of the same types of products covered by Minnesota’s legislation, and explicitly adds products sold to schools, businesses, and local governments outside of retail sale. This is especially important in schools, where Chromebooks have short lifespans. Combined with the Song-Beverly Act, S.B. 244 sets a specific timeline on how long manufacturers must provide access to parts, tools and documentation for repair: at least three years for products wholesale priced between $50 and $99.99, and at least seven years for products over $100. In contrast, Minnesota's bill specifies that manufacturer's don't have to sell parts after the product is off the market.
S.B. 244 is not perfect. Like Minnesota's new law, it doesn’t cover cars, farm equipment, medical devices, industrial equipment, or video game consoles. But thankfully S.B. 244 doesn't include the confusing language around cybersecurity that the Minnesota law has. Overall, it raises the bar.
Minnesota's right to repair law is the broadest yet, and will likely benefit people around the nation, especially when it comes to repair manual availability. If California passes S.B. 244 those benefits will broaden, while still leaving room for improvements in the future.
The "Right to Repair" Act is a great step forward, but we must keep fighting for the right to repair ALL of your devices, including cars, medical devices, farm equipment, and everything in between.
If you're a Californian, you can help! Please take action to support the "Right to Repair" Act today.