Assembly Member Fahy + Repair Association Urge Assembly to Move "Right to Repair" Legislation

ALBANY, NY (06/09/2021) (readMedia)-- On Wednesday, Assembly Member Pat Fahy will be joined by Assembly Members John T. McDonald III, Karines Reyes, Monica Wallace, Bill Magnarelli and the Repair Association to urge the Assembly to move the "Right to Repair" legislation before the session ends on Thursday. The "Digital Fair Repair Act" is expected to move through the Senate on Thursday.

The Digital Fair Repair Act would allow individuals and small businesses to repair digital devices ranging from smartphones, computers, farm equipment to household appliances.

Assemblymember Patricia Fahy sponsors the Assembly bill that requires electronic companies to provide diagnostic and repair information and release proprietary parts to consumer and local repair businesses (A.7006). Senator Neil Breslin is the Senate co-sponsor of the companion bill (S.4104), which is expected to be voted on the Senate floor tomorrow.

Background

In a pre-COVID survey, the Repair Association documented job growth related to passing the Digital Fair Repair Act and other right to repair legislation:

• Existing repair shops plan to hire 15% more employees immediately upon passage of a right to repair legislation.
• The full potential of job growth is more than 400% as businesses currently limited to a handful of repair-accessible brands can quickly expand their service offerings to cover similar, but repair-monopolized, products.

At the beginning of this year, consumer protection organization USPIRG released a study that found New York families would save big if they had the right and access to repair their electronics. Key New York findings from the study include:

• By repairing electronics, New York consumers would save a collective $2.4 billion per year.
• The average New York family would save approximately $330 per year and reduce household spending on electronics and appliances by 22%.
• New York would reduce its electronic waste. New York currently generates 655,000 tons per year.

ABOUT REPAIR ASSOCIATION: The Repair Association, officially the Digital Right to Repair Coalition, was formed in 2013 to serve the combined interests of the technology aftermarket. Our members span the interests of individuals, non-profits, and for-profits engaged in the repair, resale, recycling, and re-commerce of technology driven equipment. Our mission is to advocate for repair-friendly policies, statutes and standards.