SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Members of the California/Nevada/Arizona Automotive Wholesalers’ Association (CAWA), and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) met with members of Congress last week to discuss two critical pieces of legislation for the aftermarket — the Motor Vehicle Owners Right to Repair Act and the Federal Repair Clause bill.

The first meeting with Congressman Dean Heller of Nevada was held on May 27 at Finley Industries in Sparks, Nev. Heller, a first-term Republican was greeted by his constituents and learned about how the aftermarket is a driving force for Nevada’s economy. He also took a tour of Finley Industries and a NAPA Auto Parts warehouse to gain a better understanding of how the pieces of the aftermarket all work together.

The second meeting, with Congressman George Radanovich, was held a day later at Evans Electric Service in Fresno, Calif. Here, Radanovich was provided accounts of the aftermarket’s inability to obtain the necessary information to diagnose and repair vehicles, highlighting the growing need for the passage of the national Right to Repair Act currently pending in Congress.

In addition to the Right to Repair Act, CAWA and AAIA members discussed HR 5638, the Federal Repair Clause bill, recently introduced to protect consumers’ right to benefit from quality and lower cost alternative auto repair replacement parts by amending the federal patent law to provide an exception from design patent infringement for these alternative repair parts. The legislation is in response to car companies applying for and receiving design patents on individual replacement parts such as bumpers, hoods and doors which results in rising costs and decreased competition for consumers.