The Illinois House of Representatives has scheduled a public hearing on House Bill (HB) 1909 for Wednesday, 5 March. HB 1909 “Agricultural Equipment Repair Bill of Rights Act” seeks to implement mandates on agricultural equipment dealers that would have negative consequences for their businesses. Specifically, this bill would:
1. Create price-fixing mandates by requiring OEMs to provide parts, tools, documentation, and embedded software to consumers on the best equivalent terms they give dealers.
2.OEMs are required to provide access to digital locks and embedded software, potentially undermining federal emissions and safety requirements.
This bill seems to be based mainly on the Colorado Ag Equipment Right to Repair law passed in 2023. However, the Colorado law does not include the price fixing portions that this bill would mandate, which pose the most danger to dealers’ business models.
NAEDA has submitted the attached Position Statement as written testimony to the Judiciary-Civil Committee, which is holding the hearing. We highly encourage members to provide written testimony and/or oral testimony, which can be done both virtually and in-person.
The General Assembly does require you to create an account with their website to submit written testimony or sign up for oral testimony. That can be done at https://my.ilga.gov/.
Once you have created an account, you will need to find the hearing under House -> Committee Hearings -> Week -> 5 March 2025, Judiciary-Civil. Once on the page for the hearing, scroll to the HB 1909, and on the right side of the page there is an option to “Create Witness Slip.” Fill out and submit your information there. Once this is complete, an email with the following information needs to be mailed to the Committee Clerk:
- Full Name
- Organization, if any
- Legislative Measure
- Committee Hearing Name, Date and Time
- Position on Legislative Measure (Proponent, Opponent, No Position)
- Contact Phone Number
- Preferred Email Address
- Attach a copy of any written testimony or presentation you would like to offer
Email to: judiciarycivilcommittee@hds.ilga.gov
We have attached a copy of the legislature’s instructions for submitting testimony for your reference as well.
We will continue to provide updates on the legislation as they become available.
If you have any questions or would like help in drafting or submitting testimony, please contact NAEDA’s Director of Government Affairs, Kipp McGuire by email at kmcguire@naeda.com or call (771) 208-4009.
