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Committee approves amended consumers’ right‑to‑repair bill for portable digital and agricultural equipment
Summary
CS for SB 1132 (consumers’ right to repair) passed the Agriculture Committee as amended after debate and public testimony from dealers, manufacturers and repair advocates. An amendment carved out security and life‑safety systems and removed automotive provisions; the committee reported the bill favorably by roll call.
Senator Robert Trudeau told the Senate Committee on Agriculture that CS for SB 1132 would expand consumers’ and independent repair shops’ access to parts, tools and documentation for portable digital devices and agricultural equipment to promote competition and reduce repair costs.
Trudeau said manufacturers would not be required to disclose trade secrets except where necessary to comply with mandated documentation, parts and tools on fair and reasonable terms. He said the bill was intended to give purchasers more control over repair and maintenance and to make repairs more affordable.
The committee considered amendment barcode 678730, which Senator Trudeau explained would exclude security and life‑safety systems and remove provisions related to automobiles. The amendment was shown adopted after public testimony in support by the Florida Automobile Dealers Association.
Several dealers, manufacturers and dealer associations testified against broader provisions of the bill, saying the legislation as drafted risked safety, emissions compliance and warranty integrity by making embedded software and certain diagnostic functions broadly available. Dan Inglima of Everglades Equipment Group and other equipment dealers said customer diagnostic software and parts are already available to many farmers and independent shops and warned that unrestricted access to embedded controls could enable unsafe modifications on autonomous or heavy equipment.
"We support the right to repair. We strongly oppose the right to modify, and that's what we really feel this bill is about," said Dan Inglima, corporate parts and service manager for Everglades Equipment Group, describing concerns about access to embedded software and emission‑control steps that the Clean Air Act and EPA require.
Representatives from Ring Power, Tidewater Equipment, Smith Tractor Company and several OEMs described the dealer network’s investment in parts inventories, training, apprenticeships and overnight delivery that support uptime for farm customers. Sue Miller of Ring Power said the company carries about $26 million in parts and 2,600 employees and argued that mandatory sales of parts at dealer cost would remove incentives to invest in inventory and service capacity.
TechNet and other technology groups opposed the bill in current form but indicated willingness to negotiate. Katie Kelly of TechNet said many manufacturers already comply with right‑to‑repair laws in other states and urged amendments to limit retroactive obligations and to remove a private right of action while allowing enforcement by the attorney general.
After discussion the committee voted by roll call to report CS for SB 1132 favorably. The roll call in the transcript recorded votes of "Yes" from Senators Bernard, Burton, Rouson, Trudeau and Chair Boyd and the clerk announced: "CS for SB 1132 reported favorably." The committee thus sent the bill out of committee with the amendment that excludes security and life‑safety systems and removes automobile provisions.
Senator Trudeau closed by thanking stakeholders and underscoring the bill’s goal of balancing greater repair options for consumers with protections for safety‑critical systems. "We're trying to find a balance," he said, and pledged to continue working with dealers and manufacturers to refine the bill as it moves through the process.
