Right to repair advocates are calling on state lawmakers to block a bill that they say would gut the 2023 repair law passed by voters.

The 2023 ballot initiative passed with 84 percent of the vote and allows independent repair shops and vehicle owners access to wireless diagnostic repair information collected by their car. Without the law, car manufacturers have exclusive access to the information and only share it with contracted repair shops and dealerships.

“Without implementing this law, manufacturers will make hundreds of millions of dollars, monopolizing this information and sharing this information with only dealerships, forcing consumers into dealerships to get their cars repaired,” said Tommy Hickey, director of the Maine Right to Repair Coalition.

The bill under consideration now would narrow the law to only apply to some vehicles.

“And the people have spoken — they want direct access to their information,” Hickey said. “We have shown them technologies that can implement this law in a safe and secure way. And we hope that they respect the will of the voters.”

He said that before wireless technology, anyone could plug into a car to access that information.

The Housing and Economic Development Committee approved the bill 11-2, but it still faces a language review and further votes by the full legislature.

This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.