The Missouri legislature adjourned with somewhat of a fracas late last week. The good news is that the pair of Right to Repair bills introduced this year did not advance past their chamber of origin before the final gavel fell, sealing the fate of these bills for the fifth year in a row.
To recap, there were two Right to Repair bills we fought this session, one in each chamber. In the House, HB 698 was once again introduced by Rep. Barry Hovis and was specific to farm equipment. He had a tough time even finding a committee to give the bill a hearing and once he did, it was far too late in session for anything to happen. HB 698 died in committee without receiving a vote.
On the Senate side, SB 554 was a broad-based bill sponsored by Senator Tracy McCreery. The bill was referred to the only democratic chaired committee in the Senate and passed the committee during the last week of session. The bill was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote.
We would like to thank all the dealers who were involved in the effort to stop these bills yet again. Our efforts to educate legislators have paid off, and each successive year, these bills become less and less likely to move forward in the legislative process. That is due in large part to the effort of dealers who contact their legislators about these bills, testify at committee hearings, and bring legislators to the dealership to show them what our industry does to support customer repair and why this legislation is so misguided and unnecessary.