After passing a law last year to allow wheelchair users in Colorado to repair their own equipment, state lawmakers are now considering a bill that would offer similar rights to farmers and ranchers. via Meghan_Lopez
House Bill 23-1011 requires manufacturers to provide parts, embedded software, firmware, tools, diagnostics information, maintenance documents, repair manuals and more to owners of farm and ranch equipment or repair service providers to allow them to perform work on their equipment.
The bill stipulates that any manufacturer that withholds repair information starting in January 2024 would be considered to be participating in a deceptive trade practice and could face a civil penalty of up to $20,000 for each violation. If the manufacturer continually violates this right to repair, a court order or injunction could be issued to force the manufacturer to comply.
The bill also comes one month after manufacturer Deere & Co. signed a memorandum of understanding with the American Farm Bureau Federation that ensures farmers can repair their own equipment or take it to an independent shop. The memorandum aims to tackle the right to repair issue through the private sector rather than having state governments step in. However, bill co-sponsor Rep. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada, says the memorandum only applies to John Deere without addressing the larger issue.
Titone says while the federal government has expressed interest in the topic, Congress moves slowly, so this is better for the state to address first, pointing to similar legislation passed by Massachusetts to allow consumers to repair their own cars, which lead to nationwide changes. “That's when we should have been planting, and you only have a certain size of a window to plant because there's a crop insurance deadline,” Wood said.
Wood worries that having equipment sit around will affect his bottom line and that of other farmers around the state, which could drive up food prices. He testified in favor of the bill, saying he doesn’t want to fight with the machinery dealership but wants the chance to fix his own equipment more quickly.At the bill’s first committee hearing Monday, a number of agricultural equipment dealers testified against the bill, saying it is unnecessary and that there are ulterior motives behind it.
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