Broad legislation to implement a right to repair regulatory framework in Maine may not be considered by the state legislature until January 2026.
The Maine Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development (HED) Committee on May 15 voted to table LD 292, “An Act to Implement the Automotive Right to Repair Working Group Recommendations.” This action carries over the bill until the next legislative session, which starts next year.
Introduced by Republican Rep. Amanda Collamore, the bill, as amended, provides definitions covering automotive dealers, “diagnostic and repair information,” and independent repair facilities, among other definitions.
Among other provisions, the bill also defines services that are considered part of a vehicle’s telematics system, outlines the general framework for independent repairers to seek authorization from car owners before starting repairs, and states that access to all vehicles’ onboard diagnostic systems must be standardized and made accessible to vehicle owners and independent repair facilities.
Although LD 292 likely won’t be considered until January, at least three Maine right to repair bills are expected to be considered for final votes in the state’s legislature during the current session, according to Sophia Paddon, a legislative analyst in the Maine Legislature’s Office of Policy and Legal Analysis (OPLA). The current legislative session is scheduled to conclude June 18.
All four abovementioned bills emanated from recommendations of the Maine Automotive Right to Repair Working Group, submitted to the legislature in March.
The working group’s general mandate was to draft recommendations to implement a ballot measure passed in November 2023 by 84% of Maine’s voters. That law requires all Maine-sold vehicles to have a standardized data platform allowing car owners and—with owner permission—independent repair shops, access to all vehicle mechanical data via mobile application.
The state legislature will likely consider the following right-to-repair bills during this session:
· LD 1227, which would repeal a statute requiring all new vehicles sold in Maine to have a standardized data platform allowing car owners and owner-authorized independent repair facilities access to data generated through vehicles’ onboard diagnostic systems;
· LD 442, which would repeal the November 2023 ballot measure; and,
· LD 1394, which would exclude certain telematics system requirements for electric vehicles (EVs) sold by a vehicle manufacturer, if the manufacturer annually certifies to the state government that their EVs meet state EV production benchmarks and federal security and privacy standards.
During the May 15 HED Committee legislative work session, Democratic Rep. Tiffany Roberts moved to insert language in her LD 442 to include new language defining telematics to encompass automatic airbag deployment and crash notification, remote diagnostics, navigation, vehicle location, remote door unlock and transmission of emergency and vehicle information to public safety answering points, among other elements.
The committee vote was divided on this motion, meaning a divided report is anticipated to be submitted to the full House. A divided report entails multiple suggestions for legislative action being sent to the full legislature (i.e., “ought to pass” an amendment and “ought not to pass” an amendment).
The legislature is currently putting these bills through a “language review,” according to Paddon. OPLA is retooling language in each of the measures based on committee members’ suggestions and is verifying final language to be included with HED members via email, she said. Because language reviews are an “informal” process, they will not be made public, Paddon said.
Once members approve the language, the amended bills will go to the House floor for consideration, Paddon added.
