Missouri Right to Repair Bill Scheduled for Hearing

There are currently three Right to Repair bills introduced in the Missouri legislature. One of them, Senate Bill 554, has been scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Committee on Progress and Development. We confirmed this morning the hearing will be held next Wednesday the 12^th at 11:00 am.

SB 554 is sponsored by Senator Tracy McCreery (D) and is a broad-based bill that relates to all products sold in Missouri, not just digital electronic products or farm equipment. The bill contains language that mandates authorized dealers sell parts at dealer net cost and allows unfettered access to embedded software-all the usual bad parts from the bills we’ve fought against in the past.

NAEDA will be testifying at the hearing. We have heard the bill sponsor may be open to amendments to exclude non-road equipment, however that isn’t in place yet. We will be advocating for that exemption during the hearing. It’s important we amend or stop this bill because, if passed, it would go directly to the Senate floor next. Another wrinkle is the Progress and Development Committee is chaired by a democrat and there are only five members of the committee, three of which are democrats who would be inclined to vote for their fellow caucus member’s bill.

Call to Action: Contact members of the committee with a phone call and email expressing your opposition to the bill. Below are talking points and contact information for the committee members:

Talking points include:

• Support the Right to Repair, Not to Modify.
• Safety of our employees, customers and the general public is paramount
• This bill is intended for household consumer goods, not heavy equipment that is heavily regulated by federal law.
• Allowing unfettered access to embedded software is not necessary for repair and would jeopardize safety, emissions criteria, durability of equipment
• Everything necessary for repair is already widely available and accessible for heavy equipment.
• The industry is committed to self-repair and has formalized that commitment in the memorandum of understanding between the major stakeholders in our industry. A legislative mandate is not necessary because a private sector solution already exists.