Relates to the sale of digital electronic equipment and providing diagnostic and repair information

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Patricia Fahy says this is needed

New York was the first state to enact a comprehensive equipment owner right-to-repair law (Chapter 810, L.2022 and Chapter 48, L.2023). New York State's right-to-repair law is paving the way for other states and the federal government to adopt similar laws. Since 2022, states such as Minnesota and California have enacted the right-to-repair legislation containing valuable owner-protection language missing from New York's current statute. President Joe Biden, in an Executive Order issued in July 2021, declared his support for making it easier and cheaper to repair items by preventing manufacturers from barring self-repairs or third-party repairs of their products. New York should align with the spirit of the Biden Administration's directive and other states' actions by enhancing owner protections and extending those protections to owners of home appliances, as this bill proposes to do for residents in this state. The bill also seeks to extend coverage to digital product sales to schools, businesses, and local governments, which were excluded from the New York law. The New York law goes into effect December 23, 2023, so the passage of this legislation is timely for our state's owners to enjoy the same benefits of having more options to repair their electron- ic devices and appliances that are/will be available to consumers, busi- nesses, and government entities and other product owners in other states.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.