Senate committee hears 'right to repair' bill, sets it aside for a future hearing

Forrest Dunbar, senator from District J in Anchorage, introduced Senate Bill 111 on March 11, 2025, telling the Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee the measure would require manufacturers to make repair tools, parts and documentation available for digital products, particularly to ease repairs in rural Alaska.

The bill seeks to address what Dunbar described as an increasing difficulty for Alaskans to fix devices with digital components because manufacturers "glue things together" or gate diagnostic software and replacement parts. "When they go down and there's no way to fix them and you can't let an independent mechanic fix them, it can take weeks or months to get that very expensive piece of equipment working again," Dunbar said, citing impacts on farmers and independent mining operations.

The committee heard from invited witnesses who described consumer, environmental and local-repair benefits. Liz Chamberlain, director of sustainability for iFixit, told the panel iFixit maintains more than 15,000 step-by-step repair guides and sells parts and tools to independent repair shops. "When manufacturers aren't required to share repair materials with independent shops and repair minded individuals, they can push us all to buy new," Chamberlain said, adding that "about 1 in 15 Alaska residents used iFixit to help them fix something" last year. She also told the committee that extending product life reduces environmental burdens, citing a nationwide e-waste figure and lifecycle energy concerns.

Joe Torma, general manager for Green Star of Interior Alaska, described local reuse and repair work in Fairbanks and the Interior. Green Star operates the electronics recycling contract for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and runs a retail store and rebuild-it classes. "Keeping things alive is kind of in our DNA," Torma said, explaining that limited access to parts, tools and documentation often forces items to be recycled rather than refurbished for reuse in rural communities. He urged the committee to clarify the bill to allow tools, documentation and replacement parts from secondary sources when original parts are no longer available.

On enforcement, Halen Bedkin, staff to Senator Dunbar, said section 3 of the bill would add violations of SB 111 to the list of unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in AS 45.50.0471(b). "So it would be enforced as violations of other unfair trade practices are enforced under that act," Bedkin said. Dunbar added he believed enforcement would fall to the civil division of the Department of Law and said the office would provide additional detail in writing.

The committee did not take a formal vote on SB 111. Chair Senator Merrick (presiding) and members instead "set this bill aside and take it up at a future hearing," the committee announced at the close of testimony.

The committee record shows additional participants on the record, including Benjamin Hedges (associated with Green Star) and Nathan Proctor, senior campaign director at the Public Interest Research Group, who was present but did not testify. The committee indicated it will schedule further consideration of SB 111 and requested follow-up on enforcement and technical clarifications.

The bill's supporters emphasized rural access, environmental benefits and repair-industry jobs; opponents or alternative viewpoints were not recorded during this hearing. The committee indicated it will solicit additional information before the next hearing.