Colorado is one of a handful of states that have laws empowering consumers to more easily fix devices like phones and laptops, rather than having to rely on manufacturers to do so. All 50 U.S. states have introduced legislation in this area, although not all have passed them.
Colorado’s laws are among the broadest, as the state has three right-to-repair laws. The Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment covers nearly all consumer electronics with a chip; it requires manufacturers of these devices to enable consumers and repair businesses to obtain the equipment needed to repair these products themselves. That law took effect in January.
“There was an attempt to roll back a provision in the right-to-repair policy,” Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone said on Tuesday. Titone said she was an author of all three state laws.
The attempt was specifically intended to roll back the business-to-government sales portion; Titone said Colorado is the only state that has that. “It was an attempt to roll that back, and we defeated it yesterday.”
Senate Bill 26-090 (SB 26-090), Exempt Critical Infrastructure From Right to Repair, would have exempted IT equipment that is intended to be used in critical infrastructure. The Colorado House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted it down 7-4 on Monday.
The proposal defines critical infrastructure as “a system or an asset, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of the system or asset would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.”
It would have authorized the attorney general to review and determine exemptions, considering whether the equipment was intended for critical infrastructure use and whether it was sold under a business-to-business or business-to-government contract, rather than retail.
SB 26-090 was sponsored by Colorado Sens. John Carson and Marc Snyder and Reps. Anthony Hartsook and Chad Clifford.
During the committee hearing, Clifford said that he has supported Titone's efforts for right-to-repair legislation in the state. However, he noted some questions still exist around security.
“There’s no intent here to create loopholes,” Clifford said. The intent of the proposal, rather, is to make it so that certain items that are used for government purposes in critical infrastructure may be able to get exemptions, he said. To do so, the bill would have created a process for making such determinations by giving authority to the Office of the Attorney General.
Its opponents included organizations like the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), the National Federation of Independent Business, the Service Industry Association, Consumer Reports, Recycle Colorado, and Environment Colorado.
Opponents of the bill have argued that, from a cybersecurity standpoint, a right-to-repair law makes critical business technology more secure rather than less, as detailed in a January letter to the state legislature from a group of cybersecurity and technology leaders.
“There was a broad coalition of cybersecurity experts, businesses, repair advocates, recyclers and people who want the freedom to fix their stuff,” Danny Katz, CoPIRG executive director, said in a statement. He called the bipartisan decision to reject the measure a “huge win.”
