Washingtonians are close to having the Right to Repair for wheelchairs

When you rely on a powered wheelchair to get around, any delay in repair imposes a burden on your mobility and financial security. It can even become a matter of life and death. Yet a constrained market for wheelchair service and repair makes delays for repair of weeks or even months common.

We support the Right to Repair for wheelchairs and mobility devices to ensure that Washingtonians have uninterrupted access to their primary means of mobility. This bill would require manufacturers to provide necessary resources – from parts and tools to embedded software and essential documentation – to both wheelchair owners and independent repair providers.

After passing through the Senate unanimously, the Right to Repair for wheelchairs and mobility devices (SB 5680) was voted on the House floor Friday. Mirroring the support from the Senate, Representatives voted to pass the bill by a bipartisan and unanimous vote of 95 to 0.

After a concurrence vote, the bill will head to Governor Ferguson’s desk.

Disability rights advocates rallied in Olympia for the right to repair their mobility devices

The Right to Repair for Wheelchairs and Mobility Devices getting this far in the legislative process is due, in large part, to a dedicated group of disability rights advocates.

Industry lobbyists have been working to weaken the bill, so members of Disability Rights Washington and the Here and Now Project rallied outside the capitol building in Olympia in early April to show their support for the bill.

Legislators saw signs reading “My body, my chair, my right to repair” and “Please don’t cripple our right to repair.” The advocates filled the front of the committee hearing room as they watched representatives debate the details of the bill before taking it to a vote.

In her remarks urging her colleagues to vote ‘yes’ to advance SB 5680 in committee, Representative Santos spoke about her family member who is nonverbal and relies on a powered wheelchair to get around. “Even though she’s nonverbal, she’s a human being who has a right to make her own decisions,” and “it is the right of the users of those mobility devices to make decisions in their best interest.”

Disability rights advocates celebrated alongside Representatives and the bill’s primary sponsor, Representative Mia Gregerson (D-33), after the bill passed through the committee by a vote of 8 to 7.

If signed into law by Governor Ferguson, Washington will become the second state to have strong legislation that protects wheelchair users’ rights to repair their powered wheelchairs and mobility devices.