FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          October 1, 2008                              Contact: Ernie Corrigan           617-875-1229

BUILDING UPON SUCCESS

The Right to Repair (R2R) movement in Massachusetts gathered impressive legislative support and momentum as it moved out of committee and to the House floor just as lawmakers were wrapping up their formal session on July 31. Even as the clock ran out on the session, supporters of the legislation vowed to redouble their efforts during the remaining informal session of 2008.

“From early spring into the summer, there was a remarkable recognition among legislators about the need for Right to Repair,” said Stan Morin, a tire dealer from Southeastern Massachusetts who led the Right to Repair effort on behalf of independent repairers. “When we began meeting with legislators early in the session, we had to go through a long explanation of our issues and the intention of the legislation,” Morin said. “But by June we only had to say Right to Repair and they instantly understood what we were there to talk about and understood why this is ultimately a consumer protection bill.”

The early R2R success drew the attention of automobile manufacturers who initially had ignored the bill and then suddenly swarmed the Statehouse in an effort to kill the legislation outright when they sensed the building success and momentum. What hurt automakers was their persistent claim that independent repairers were mistaken in their claims that they were being denied information to repair vehicles.

“That just didn’t pass muster with legislators,” said Morin. “When you have over a hundred independent repairers putting their tools down for the day to come to the Statehouse to push for passage of R2R, you understand there is a problem that threatens their businesses,” said Morin. “We aren’t going through all this effort to resolve a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Want to find out more about our continuing R2R effort? Spend some time on our website and then click on the Take Action button that allows you to contact your legislators directly. Remember, it is your right to repair.

-end-