Massachusetts Right to Repair legislation was signed into law on Nov. 26.
“The signing by the governor represents a major victory for Massachusetts car owners, who took the major step last year in voting for the nation’s first Right to Repair law,” said Kathleen Schmatz, AAIA president and CEO. “AAIA and our partner, the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE), will now devote our full attention to completing work on a memorandum of understanding with the vehicle manufacturers that is intended to ensure that motorists across the nation can enjoy the same market benefits that Massachusetts car owners now enjoy.”
The newly signed law reconciled two laws that were on the books in Massachusetts.
The first law passed in Massachusetts was a compromise by the Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition and the vehicle manufacturers, and passed in July but was approved too late to remove a ballot measure. That ballot measure was approved in November 2012 creating two Right to Repair laws on the books in Massachusetts.
While the two laws were similar there were some differences that needed to be reconciled. Differences include two different deadlines for car companies to provide their diagnostic software through a cloud that utilizes a standardized vehicle interface as well as the type of vehicles included in the laws.
