There are now six individual Right to Repair bills that have been introduced in Michigan in the last two weeks since we alerted you to the first bills dropped in the legislature. Of these, House Bill 4673 is the first to be scheduled for a hearing in the House Agriculture Committee. The hearing is set for next Wednesday, June 7th at 9:00 a.m. in room 327 of the House Office Building.
The bill is sponsored by Representative Reggie Miller (D-District 31) and is co-sponsored by 36 additional democrats. Rep. Miller is also chair of the House Agriculture Committee and several co-sponsors are members of the committee as well.
As for the substance of the bill, it would require OEMs and authorized dealers to sell parts, tools, documentation and diagnostics at dealer net cost to owners and independent repair shops. In other words, this bill prohibits dealers from making a profit on parts.
The bill creates a private cause of action for owners and independent repair shops to file a lawsuit against OEMs and authorized dealers to enjoin them from selling parts for a profit and provides a penalty of $2,500 and award of attorney fees.
Call to Action
This is one of the worst Right to Repair bills introduced in the last seven years. We have to kill this bill. In order to do so, we need engagement from every dealer in Michigan.
Beginning Monday, we need dealers to contact every member of the House Agriculture Committee with an email stating their opposition to the bill and follow-up with a phone call to their offices prior to Wednesday’s hearing. Here is a contact last for the committee members.
NAEDA has submitted our position statement to members of the committee. You can use this for talking points to craft a respectful message in your own words. Here are some additional talking points:
- Parts, tools, documentation, and diagnostics are already widely available and accessible to owners and independent repair shops.
- On average, 56% of parts are sold out the door and not installed by the dealership (Use your dealership’s number if you have it). Meaning the majority of repairs in our industry are performed by someone other than the dealership.
- The average dealership sells to 9 independent repair shops and dealers act as a parts depot for those businesses (Again, use your own numbers)
- The average dealership stocks $1 million in parts inventory to have parts on-hand when customers need them. If prohibited from making a profit, your parts inventory will significantly decrease resulting in more downtime for your customers because they will not have parts on hand.
- If unable to make a profit from parts, you will be forced to eliminate jobs.
- A private sector solution already exists between the major stakeholders on this issue. The American Farm Bureau Federation has entered into memorandums of understanding with John Deere, CNH, Kubota, and AGCO making legislation unnecessary.
- The investment you make in training and education for your parts, service and technicians to keep up on model and technology changes to support customers. If unable to make a profit on parts, that investment will significantly decrease as well.
- Describe the challenges you face that are actually creating downtime: shortage of technicians and lack of rural broadband.
- Invite your legislator to the dealership for a demonstration/walk through to show them what you do to support customer self-repair and increase uptime.
NAEDA has developed an infographic from survey results that provide an accurate reality of the repair landscape. You can reference this document for talking points as well.
NAEDA will be attending the hearing and testifying in-person. If you are able to testify at the hearing next Wednesday, please let me know directly. If you have questions about the bill language or need help drafting a message, please reach out as well.