House Bill 698, otherwise known as the agricultural equipment Right to Repair bill, was heard by the House Committee on Rural Community Development on Monday, April 24 at 11:00 a.m.
The industry had a strong turnout with in-person testimony made by Heritage Tractor, Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners, and NAEDA. The MOUs between Deere-AFBF and Case-AFBF were heavily discussed at multiple points throughout the hearing. Several of the Committee members expressed a desire, or leaning, for a private sector fix instead of government involvement but did have reservations that these agreements would be effective. The message relayed by industry witnesses was that the agreement deserves time to work before dismissing it as in-effective.
Of course, NAEDA spent a majority of its time highlighting concerns about mandating parts at cost. Most committee members seemed to intuitively agree that cost fixing is a negative practice; however, it was not immediately clear to them that in this case specifically, they would be creating a situation where manufacturers are put in direct competition with their dealers. One member even commented that that was exactly the intent of the bill – create more competition. Both the Association and dealers highlighted that this would in-fact be counterproductive for end users and independent repair providers who rely on access to dealer’s inventory for their own repairs.
The bill’s sponsor – Rep. Barry Hovis – did mention he realizes the negative effects the cost fixing language possess to dealers and is open to amendments. His focus seems to be on digital locks and the ability for end users to pair replacement parts without the manufacturer or dealer.
Our assessment is that HB 698 has a low likelihood of making it through the legislative process this year. It was mentioned by partners in the Coalition Against Illegal Tampering, which NAEDA is a participant, that there is a small chance HB 698 language could be added to another bill further along in the process as an amendment. This event seems to be slightly more probable for moving this bill into law this year; however, we, again, assess this to be a low risk this session. Coalition members and NAEDA are actively watching for these types of amendments and will keep our Missouri dealers updated with any movement.
Lastly, but certainly not least, NAEDA thanks the dealers who submitted testimony, written and in-person. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or would like to discuss HB 698 further.