The Fair Repair Act (HB 1392) passed through a House Committee in Olympia Wednesday, with a seven to six vote. The act would require consumer electronics companies to share the instructions and tools to fix their products with the public. Dax Tate with the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) Foundation hopes state lawmakers will pass this bill. “Right to repair is policies that require manufacturers to provide consumers and independent repair shops with the parts, tools and information that they need to fix the devices that they own,” said Tate. Experts in the field, like iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens, said about 20 other states have introduced similar legislation this year. “If we can fix our own stuff, we are not captive to the manufacturers that sent us the thing,” said Wiens. “We have more control over our destiny.” He said in recent years companies have been making improvements with repair accessibility but said last year the iFixit website had four million visits from people in Washington looking to make their own repairs. “There's a huge need and they're coming to iFixit because the manufacturers are letting them down,” said Wiens. He hopes this bill will allow consumers to have more options on where they can get their electronics fixed, and in turn, use them longer. “We need to make it so the products are fixable and then repairable in our communities by our local repair shops,” said Wiens. He said this law would help prevent electronic waste and would lead to people being able to get their phones and laptops fixed in more accessible and affordable ways. READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/state-politics/fair-repair-act-passes-house-committee-olympia-washington/281-6e9ab346-9f2e-42c9-9159-87b510a84318