After 2020 ballot question, Right to Repair still tied up in court

IN NOVEMBER 2020, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot question that would expand the state’s Right to Repair law. Three-quarters of voters agreed that car manufacturers need to give telematic data – data obtained by the manufacturer through a wireless transmitter in a car – to independent repair shops if the information is needed to do repair or maintenance work.

The expensive ballot fight had pitted independent car repair shops against auto manufacturers. The repair shops said that as the technology in cars has advanced, with the installation of more complex wireless systems, existing state law governing auto repair needed to be updated to ensure independent garages could access the information needed to fix newer cars. Car manufacturers countered that an initial 2012 Right to Repair law already gave independent repair shops all the information they need. The manufacturers said that more sharing of wireless data could put drivers’ personal information at risk if, for example, a hacker were able to access it.

The law was supposed to go into effect for model year 2022. But major car manufacturers, through the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, challenged the law in federal court. Attorney General Maura Healey postponed implementation until the lawsuit was resolved.

The carmakers said the new law would introduce cybersecurity risks, since sharing data would make systems more susceptible to hackers, and the time frame was too tight to be able to take steps to mitigate those risks. They said current law already gives independent repair shops all the information they need to make repairs, and the new law would imperil consumer privacy and public safety.

“We’re pretty frustrated,” said Tommy Hickey, director of the Right to Repair Coalition, which supported the ballot question. “It’s been over a year and half since we had a 75 percent vote.” Hickey said model 2022 cars are on the road now, and as they come off warranties, independent repair shops will need telematic information to repair them.

A trial in the case was held in June 2021 before US District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock. One of the arguments made by automakers was that the deadline of model year 2022 cars was impossible to meet. 

In the fall of 2021, before Woodlock ruled, Healey asked him to reopen the case and consider new evidence showing that two car companies had complied with the 2022 deadline simply by turning off telematic data capabilities in model year 2022 cars sold in Massachusetts. These are features like Subaru’s StarLink, which connects a car to a smartphone and includes features like remote engine starting and vehicle speed alerts. The case was reopened, and the new evidence was considered.

In April 2022, Woodlock said he would rule by July 1, 2022. But then, he pushed off his ruling again, citing unforeseen scheduling complications and implications of the US Supreme Court’s decision in a recently decided case regarding the US Environmental Protection Agency. (He did not discuss what those implications were.)

Healey’s office declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the group representing car makers, did not respond to a request for comment on the delays.

Brian Hohmann, owner of Burlington Accurate Automotive and a ballot question supporter, said one area where the issue has come up relates to the electric car Tesla. All cars that emit greenhouse gasses are required to have a port where a repair shop can plug in and obtain emissions and other information about the car. But electric cars like Tesla have no port because they have no emissions, so Hohmann said he needs telematic data to get any information about how to repair a Tesla.

Hohmann said independent car repair shops continue to struggle, and he sees colleagues going out of business. “The longer this gets stalled, the more guys that say enough, and they throw their hands up and get out,” Hohmann said.

SHIRA SCHOENBERG

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Orange Line shutting down: The MBTA plans to shut down the entire Orange Line for a month starting at 9 p.m. on Friday August 19. At a press conference, Gov. Charlie Baker and T General Manager Steve Poftak said shutting down the line will allow the transit authority to replace track and do other work that would take five years with the typical night and weekend efforts.

– The specific plans call for replacing 3,500 feet of track, which will eliminate slow zones in areas where the track is currently not up to par. A lot of other maintenance work will also be performed, and when the line opens Baker said the T plans to shift more service to new Orange Line cars coming online.

– Transit advocates generally panned the idea of shutting down service in September, when students return to school and business activity picks up. Businesses and educational institutions that rely on transit service to attract workers and students said they were awaiting details on the replacement bus service that will be provided by a private bus operator. Read more. 

Tick tock on tax cap: Who knew what when? That’s the question that circulated over the last several days on Beacon Hill as lawmakers struggled to figure out how an unexpected $3 billion tax cap giveback to taxpayers would affect the coming year’s spending plans. Many lawmakers, particularly in the House, say Gov. Charlie Baker hid the information from them, citing a series of moves that could have possibly signaled an early awareness that the tax cap would be triggered. On the other hand, lawmakers have their own budget experts, but most of them weren’t around the last time the tax cap was triggered in 1987. Read more.

OPINION

Missed opportunity: Former state senator Richard Moore says the Legislature missed a big opportunity with nursing home reform. Read more.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

A mysterious tomb at a cemetery in Savoy is opened up and nothing is found inside. (Berkshire Eagle)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

A former nurse manager at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, who was fired, files a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that a dementia patient was barricaded in her room and sedated to comply with COVID restrictions. She also says the home misrepresented COVID death counts. (MassLive)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Attorneys for Alex Jones mistakenly sent information from his cellphone to lawyers representing a couple suing him for defamation in connection with the Sandy Hook shooting death of their child. The cell phone data contradicted claims made by Jones, who claimed the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, and also revealed that his Infowars company’s revenue for the most recent year was $70 million. (Insider)

Nate Cohn of the New York Times’s “Upshot” roughs out projections based on Kansas voters’ strong support for abortion rights and says voters in 4 of out 5 states would likely support some level of abortion access if the question were put to the ballot. 

ELECTIONS

Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington faced off against her Democratic primary challenger Timothy Shugrue, with a focus on how they would handle drug cases. (Berkshire Eagle)

Boston Herald columnist Peter Lucas doesn’t like the smell of the indictment Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey brought against former GOP state senator Dean Trahan, who is challenging a Healey ally, US Rep. Lori Trahan, in the Third Congressional District. 

Democratic candidates for state auditor Chris Dempsey and Diana DiZoglio go at it in a debate on WBUR. (Boston Globe) 

EDUCATION

The number of high school students in Massachusetts going on immediately to college is plunging. (GBH)

The Washington Post says the country is facing a “catastrophic” teacher shortage. 

ARTS/CULTURE

A Berkshire Eagle editorial praises the Stockbridge Select Board for turning a portion of a cemetery where the remains of members of the Mohican Indian tribe are buried over to the tribe.

TRANSPORTATION

The T is on track to get a major infusion of public money to conduct repairs and maintenance. (Eagle-Tribune)

All key players agree with the idea of giving Boston a seat on the MBTA board, but it still didn’t get done before the Legislature ended formal sessions for the year. (Boston Globe)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Worcester has lots of open land that could be conserved, but an environmental advocate says the city lacks enough staff to apply for grants and arrange the purchases. (Telegram & Gazette)

Coral levels at the Great Barrier Reef are at some of the highest levels in years. (NPR)

PASSINGS