For immediate release
March 7, 2018

Contact: David Stammerjohan
(916) 319-2013

Eggman Introduces Legislation to Create a “Right to Repair” for Electronics
SACRAMENTO—Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) has announced
that she will be introducing the California Right to Repair Act. The legislation would require
manufacturers of electronics to make diagnostic and repair information, as well as equipment or
service parts, available to product owners and to independent repair shops.
“The Right to Repair Act will provide consumers with the freedom to have their electronic
products and appliances fixed by a repair shop or service provider of their choice, a practice that
was taken for granted a generation ago but is now becoming increasingly rare in a world of
planned obsolescence,” Eggman said.
People who can’t afford the high price of manufacturer-based repair services are increasingly
forced to prematurely replace durable goods, such as phones, TVs, and appliances. Repairing and
reusing electronics is not only a more efficient use of the scarce materials that go into
manufacturing the products, but it can also stimulate local economies instead of unsustainable
overseas factories.
“People shouldn’t be forced to ‘upgrade’ to the newest model every time a replaceable part on
their smartphone or home appliance breaks,” said Mark Murray, Executive Director of
Californians Against Waste. “These companies are profiting at the expense of our environment
and our pocketbooks as we become a throw-away society that discards over 6 million tons of
electronics every year.”
"The bill is critical to protect independent repair shops and a competitive market for repair,
which means better service and lower prices. It also helps preserve the right of individual device
owners to understand and fix their own property,” Kit Walsh, Senior Staff Attorney with the
Electronic Frontier Foundation said. “We should encourage people to take things apart and learn
from them. After all, that's how many of today's most successful innovators got started."

 "Consumers Union thanks Assemblymember Eggman for her efforts to ensure consumers have
the choice to fix their own electronic devices or have them fixed by an independent repair
servicer”, said Maureen Mahoney, Policy Analyst for Consumers Union. “Consumers are now
being forced to go back to the manufacturer for even simple repairs or refurbishing, or to throw
out the device and buy a new one. We look forward to working with Assemblymember Eggman
to secure this important ownership right for consumers."
“We should be working to reduce needless waste – repairing things that still have life -- but
companies use their power to make things harder to repair. Repair should be the easier, more
affordable choice and it can be, but first we need to fix our laws," said Emily Rusch, Executive
Director of CALPIRG. "Our recent survey, Recharge Repair, showed a surge in interest in
additional repair options after Apple announced battery issues. The Right to Repair Act would
give people those options."
California joins 17 other states who have introduced similar legislation, which includes:
Washington, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,
Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
Virginia.
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