Issue Update

What's new: The House Energy and Commerce Committee today passed H.R. 7389, the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, which replaced the original REPAIR Act (H.R. 1566) with a much narrower provision that addresses NADA's concerns and recognizes that issues involving vehicle privacy, cybersecurity, and safety require further study. NADA supported the new language and H.R. 7389 passed by a vote of 48-1. See here for NADA's letter to the committee.

Tell me more: Thanks to NADA's grassroots advocacy, the committee withdrew its problematic draft of the "REPAIR Act" late Tuesday and replaced it with this significantly scaled-back version which NADA can support.

The new language merely:

1. Codifies the existing 2014 and 2015 MOUs that govern light- and heavy-duty vehicles; and
2. Has the FTC issue a study on this matter by 2028.

The bottom line: The bill preserves the current, functional repair system without introducing new liabilities on dealers, opening up warranty and recall work to third parties, or threatening state franchise law - all of which were provisions in previous versions of the bill.

What's next: NADA anticipates proponents of so-called "right to repair" will try to restore their dropped language before the bill moves to the House floor.