Committee adopts substitute for digital right-to-repair bill after hours of testimony

The House Labor and Commerce Committee on Wednesday adopted a committee substitute for House Bill 162, a digital right-to-repair measure, after lengthy invited and public testimony. The CS narrows the bill’s scope to consumer digital products sold at retail for personal, family or household use and restores a parts-pairing provision for consumer devices.

Representative Diver, the bill sponsor, said HB 162 seeks to give Alaskans more ability to repair the products they own and to reduce unnecessary waste. "This bill helps ensure that Alaskans can continue using and repairing the products they've already purchased rather than being forced into costly replacements," the sponsor said in opening remarks.

Why it matters: supporters said expanding repair access will help rural Alaska, lower household repair costs and reduce electronic waste; opponents — including dealership representatives, alarm/security trade groups, marine manufacturers and consumer-technology industry groups — warned the CS is too broad, could create safety and cybersecurity risks for security and life-safety systems, and would impose novel wholesale obligations on dealer networks.

Invited testimony included Deani Chapman of Alaska Environment, who urged passage of the CS to reduce e-waste and expand in-state repair capacity. "In Alaska, our landfills are filling up," Chapman said. Independent repair technicians across the U.S. and beyond also testified in support, describing access problems to schematics, parts and firmware that make local repair difficult or impossible.

Industry witnesses urged more targeted exemptions. Kelly Droop, an Alaska regional manager for a dealership, told the committee that HB 162 "has some significant unintended consequences for customer service and safety" when applied to utility, construction and agricultural equipment. Representatives of alarm and security firms similarly asked for an exemption for contract-provided systems to avoid exposing credentials and tools that could be misused.

Committee staff summarized the CS: it focuses on consumer electronics such as smartphones, computers, TVs, kitchen appliances and other household digital products; it excludes motor vehicles and dealership-sold equipment; and it narrows the bill’s application away from commercial contract-installed systems. Staff also said they added parts-pairing protections for consumer devices so independent repair shops can replace paired components in many household devices.

A committee member moved to adopt the CS as the working document; after discussion and removal of an initial objection, the committee adopted the CS. The amendment deadline for HB 162 was set for Wednesday at noon.

Next steps: the CS will be available for committee amendments ahead of the Wednesday noon deadline. Committee members asked staff for model exemption language and additional comparison language from other states regarding security-system and contract-based exemptions.