Aaron Lowe, Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) vice president, government affairs, testified on behalf of AAIA and the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE) before the Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development recently regarding Right to Repair legislation introduced in the state of Maine. While the car companies, new car dealers and the Automotive Service Association (ASA) opposed passage, the bill received considerable support from AAA and several repair shops that made their way to Augusta for the hearing. Much of the hearing focused on the problem faced by independent shops in rural Maine obtaining the information and tools needed to work on very sophisticated late model vehicles.
AAIA and CARE thanked the bill sponsor Rep. Bernard Ayotte, R-Maine, for introduction of legislation that seeks to ensure competition for Maine consumers for the repair of their vehicles. However, Lowe requested that the legislature hold off any action on the bill until negotiations between the aftermarket and the car companies over a national agreement were completed. Lowe told the committee that the participants hoped to have a resolution by the end of July and declared that “should the negotiations fail to be successful, we will return to the legislature next session and request that action be taken such that Maine has a right to repair law in place that is similar in scope to action undertaken in Massachusetts.”
