BOSTON -- The Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure held a public hearing for Right to Repair legislation on Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Boston. Current Right to Repair legislation has been proposed in twin bills, Massachusetts House Bill 228 and House Bill 285. Companion legislation in the Senate has been introduced, Senate Bill 124.

Representatives from automotive aftermarket associations both in favor of and opposition to the bill were on-hand to provide testimony during the standing-room only meeting.

A group called the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition called for passage of House Bill 228 and Senate Bill 124. "We simply seek to level the playing field for independent auto repairers who are increasingly being denied access to necessary repair information by automobile manufacturers," said Barry Steinberg, owner of several Direct Tire locations in the greater Boston area, and batting lead-off for the day's hearing. Steinberg told lawmakers he turns away up to five customers every week, not because he doesn't have the best technicians and tools, but because in many cases, the repair codes and related information are not available.

Representatives of the New England Tire Dealers Association, National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and the Retailers Association of America also added their support for Right to Repair.

Representatives from the Automotive Service Association attended the hearing to speak in opposition to the legislation. Ron Pyle, ASA president and chief staff executive, and Massachusetts ASA member Rusty Savignac presented testimony; and ASA board member Donny Seyfer provided a multimedia presentation in opposition to the bills for committee members.　　　　　　

Pyle briefed Massachusetts legislators on why ASA believes Right to Repair legislation is not necessary for independent repair shops to obtain service information. He said, "The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF), a voluntary industry organization, has served as a mechanism to share information and resolve issues that arise in the areas of service information, tools and training. In the United States, we have about 500 million post-warranty repair orders each year. Independent repair facilities repair approximately 75 percent of these cars. NASTF is designed to address gaps in information that may occur in the repair … In 2008, the total number of service information requests received by NASTF was 44. This is out of 500 million post-warranty repairs nationwide. The total number of information requests from Massachusetts in 2008 was two. In 2009, we have had a total of 34 requests for information. Only two of these are from Massachusetts."