"On the One-Inch Line": Right to Repair Bill Advances, But Needs Support

Auto Care Association President and CEO Bill Hanvey and MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers President Emily Poladian took the stage jointly on Tuesday, June 2, at Auto Parts Services Group's "Success is a Choice" national conference in Orlando, Florida, to update the organization's members and vendors on the current state of Right to Repair.

Speaking to a room of over 800 attendees, Poladian said the right to repair issue was a "critical" one that focuses on consumer choice and affordability, and should be top of mind for all automotive suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors.

"If we collectively, as an industry, focus on that being the key message, it has a better chance of being heard loud and clear. Without that choice, consumers could spend 30% more on their repairs. I don't think anybody would want to do that if they can avoid it," Poladian said.

Poladian added that the automotive aftermarket provides jobs that preserve not only the suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers in the industry, but also their partners down the supply chain. Standing the gap to advocate for the right to repair will keep the industry viable for the next decade and beyond.

"We support nearly five million jobs in this industry, and that's just on the supplier side — even more when you count everybody across the value chain. Repair shops account for about 350,000 workers and $55 billion annually. That's a lot of money that could be lost by 2035 if we don't take action," she said.

A Late-Night Setback

Echoing Poladian's call to action, Hanvey said that the bill took a blow last month after the Association's annual Auto Care Connect event in Atlanta. ACA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Lisa Foshee told him she had "good news and bad news" regarding the bill.

"The good news was that the bill was still alive, but the bad news is that in the eleventh hour — at 11:30 p.m. the night before the deadline to file the bill — NADA went from neutral to catastrophic. They rallied their entire network. They flipped the Energy and Commerce Committee," Hanvey said. "The dealers sunk it as it was — but we're still alive."

What's in the Revised Bill

According to Hanvey, the revised bill codifies the 2014 memorandum of understanding that allows technicians data access through the OBD-II port. Telematics remained a challenging hurdle, however.

"What we're finding out is that most of the problems we're seeing come from the automakers installing gateways through the OBD-II — not one gateway, not two gateways, three gateways. Ask any technician. So telematics was out, but the bill codified the agreement," Hanvey said.

The revision also established the Federal Trade Commission as the enforcement arm, which Hanvey hailed as great news for the aftermarket.

"The automakers were always saying, 'Oh, we can do this ourselves. Let's have a self-regulating board.' No — we need a federal agency to monitor this and hand out fines and judgments," he said.

Other aspects of the revision put the FTC in a position to conduct a four-year study on the availability of data in the aftermarket, preserved the Massachusetts and Maine laws that are already in effect, and included heavy-duty vehicles — something that was never incorporated before.

What's Missing

The revised bill does not include telematics, nor does it include manufacturers being designated as data providers. Those elements remain points of contention and potential negotiation as the bill moves forward.

The Hearing and What's to Come

At the hearing on Capitol Hill, Hanvey said the Energy and Commerce Committee was not thrilled with NADA because there was an agreement between the sides — a handshake that the dealers would stay out of it —that wasn't honored.

"Chairman Brett Guthrie from Kentucky introduced the old bill as an amendment to the new bill, which sent a clear notice to the dealers: You really pissed us off," Hanvey said, noting that NADA's move further opened the door for the aftermarket to take another significant step forward.

The next step of the bill is the Rules Committee, which, according to Hanvey, will "Frankenstein the bill" by including elements from Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Transportation and Infrastructure, and combine them into the 2026 Surface Transportation reauthorization bill, which the aftermarket is already a part of.

"If that doesn't work, we're still working on Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Frank Pallone from New Jersey. We've got our work cut out for us," Hanvey said. "Auto Care and MEMA are going to need your help more than ever to put pressure on the Rules Committee. We are further along than we have ever been, but we're not there yet. We're on the one-inch line."

Poladian added, "Collectively, as an industry, we need your input, your voice, and your industry-wide support. Place an op-ed — especially if you're in one of those states Bill mentioned, but even in other states where there are representatives and senators we need to influence. We will write the op-ed for you. You literally just have to sign your name — maybe tweak it a little if you want.

"It doesn't just have to come from this industry. This is a consumer issue. Ask your customers, ask your technicians, ask anybody to reach out. The more Congress knows how important this is, the better. We are here to help you. We are here to support you and make it easy for you to get involved."