California Right to Repair bill advances out of committee

SACRAMENTO— California’s Right to Repair bill (SB 983), introduced by Sen. Susan Eggman (Stockton), passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 8-1-2 vote on Tuesday. The bill, backed by a coalition of local repair shops, consumer interest groups, and environmental non-profits, aims to tackle the growing problem of unrepairable electronic products and appliances by ending manufacturer repair monopoly. The bill will require manufacturers of consumer products to make parts, tools and manuals available to consumers and independent repair shops.

SB 983 will now move to the Senate Appropriations committee, where it will need to be voted on by May 20th in order to continue on in the legislative process this session.

In response to the committee passage: Sander Kushen, CALPIRG Advocate, issued the following statement

“Today is a great day for Californians’ ability to fix their stuff. We are thrilled to see Right to Repair pass out of committee today, an important bill that will slow the creation of electronic waste and save consumers money. 

When your stuff breaks, and only the manufacturer or their ‘authorized technician’ can fix it, they can charge whatever they want, or push you into buying new. That’s expensive, and contributes to electronic waste, the fastest growing waste stream in the world. If you own something, you should be able to fix it—that’s just common sense.”

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