The House Small Business Subcommittee on Underserved, Agricultural, and Rural Business Development has scheduled a hearing for September 14th on Right to Repair. The hearing will be informational only and does not relate to specific legislation.
There are currently two Right to Repair House bills that have been introduced. HB 6566 is a broad-based bill that relates to all digital electronic devices. The other is HB 6570, which targets motor vehicles. While there is no House bill that singles out farm equipment, S. 3549 was introduced earlier this year by Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and does specifically relate to farm equipment.
The subcommittee hearing next week appears to be focused on household consumer electronics and motor vehicles. However, farm equipment is frequently brought into the discussion despite many distinguishing factors. NAEDA will be submitting a position statement to the committee members and conducting outreach directly with members and staff prior to the hearing.
In addition to our position statement, NAEDA is leading the Illegal Tampering Coalition and will be submitting a position statement on behalf of its members.
This is the first hearing in Congress on Right to Repair. Although it is informational only, we are taking it seriously and will be educating legislators on everything our industry does to support customer repair. If you have any questions about the hearing or NAEDA’s advocacy efforts, please contact the association office.