By JOANI WOELFEL
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law HB23-1011, the “Consumer Right to Repair Agricultural Equipment,” which passed the Senate by a 46-14 vote two weeks ago. Polis celebrated Colorado lawmakers’ goal to be the first in the nation to pass an agricultural “right-to-repair” bill during Tuesday’s signing ceremony at the Capitol, falsely stating:
“This bill will save farmers and ranchers time and money and support the free market in repair … first in the nation!”
For the past three years equipment industry representatives including Far West Equipment Dealers Association (FWEDA), dealers and manufacturers have provided Colorado lawmakers with demonstrations and resources showing that diagnostic and repair tools, manuals, guides and software are readily available to farmers and independent repair providers on the open market, and manufacturers continue to expand these offerings.
“Dealer-farmer relationships are not transactional. Dealers work closely with farmers and end users to reduce downtime and ensure their agricultural equipment is available when needed,” said Russ Ball, FWEDA Board of Directors Chairman and District Manager for 21st Century Equipment, a Colorado dealer. “There is no incentive to undermine our customers, our goal is to help them be successful, which is why this misleading legislation is so frustrating.”
Colorado House and Senate Ag Committee hearings (which are recorded) offered eye-opening insight into uninformed legislators and bill advocates who made false and misleading statements. Most of those who testified in support of the bill complained about cost and response times for service technicians, issues unrelated to the stated purpose of the bill, which is to provide access.
Modern agricultural equipment enables onboard features to support crop protection and improve efficiency and productivity, thus reducing man hours required to plant and harvest. The result is an inconvenient reality: Complex technology requires skilled labor to diagnose and repair equipment and qualified labor is in short supply.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Worker Shortage Index shows Colorado is among the hardest hit states. Rather than respond to the shortage of qualified labor with proactive solutions, HB23-1011 sponsors, working on behalf of special interests, ignored the facts as part of a larger effort to drive a wedge between dealers and their customers and disrupt the dealership model.
Bill sponsor Rep. Brianna Titone, D-27, wrote off thousands of Colorado voters introducing the legislation at a Feb. 6 House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources Committee hearing: “Farmers are our constituents not the dealerships,” Titone said.
The Colorado equipment industry – which includes authorized dealers – directly and indirectly supports an estimated 11,000 jobs across the state that pay $700 million in wages, which are 33% higher than the national average. The industry contributes $1.1 billion to the state GDP and $23 million in tax revenues each year, according to statistics from the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). Dealerships employ thousands of people across the state and make significant contributions to their communities.
HB23-1011 co-sponsor Senator Janice Marchman, D-15, denied during a March 9 Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee hearing that she was invited to a demonstration of the diagnostic and repair tools available to end users. FWEDA and numerous others invited all lawmakers including Marchman to a March 7 demo on the Capitol grounds. Senator Rod Pelton, D-35, announced it on the Senate floor. Neither Marchman nor any bill sponsor attended.
At the same hearing, Committee Vice Chair and bill co-sponsor Senator Nick Hinrichsen, D-3, falsely asserted: “Currently, if a piece of farming equipment breaks down, folks have to schedule time for a dealership authorized technician to come and fix it.” Marchman later admitted, “I realize the manuals are available, but the problem is our farmers don’t have the expertise to work with the embedded code that exists.”
Expertise does not equal access. Farmers can call an independent repair provider or fix their equipment themselves. Either can download manuals (many for free) and purchase tools and diagnostic equipment to make the repairs. Many growers hire technicians – often from authorized dealers – to repair their own equipment.
The news media’s failure to do its job contributes to a disinformation campaign by the “right-to-repair” movement, led by U.S. PIRG and iFixit. Nearly all articles circulating about ‘right to repair’ related to ag equipment parrot their talking points vs. reporting the facts.
The ‘right-to-repair’ movement would have us believe it singles out John Deere because of disgruntled customers. Rather, their slick marketers are acutely aware John Deere’s brand recognition is priceless. U.S. PIRG’s 2021 hit piece ‘Deere in the Headlights’ is worthy of a Click Bait Hall of Fame nomination. It struck gold, ranking atop Google search term results and seizing on John Deere’s reputation as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. The article is filled with intentionally false statements.
These efforts are boosted by a “Right-to-Repair” YouTube “influencer,” who boasts that he’s raised $1 million to pass “right-to-repair” bills using a GoFundMe page backed by a “nonprofit” that claims to operate “exclusively to promote social welfare.” The individual owns an independent repair business. He took a victory lap with Colorado’s passage of the new law, heaping caustic vitriol on FWEDA and equipment dealers, and invoking “Nazism” accusations against his detractors. He admits he knows nothing about farm equipment and he’s a leading source of disinformation.
Colorado Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF), a state chapter of the largest farmer organization in the country, urged lawmakers to recognize agreements (Memorandums of Understanding, MOUs) between manufacturers and growers, brokered on their terms rather than passing government mandates. Bill sponsors rejected the argument.
Over the past several decades federal environmental and safety agencies implemented strict regulations to improve air quality and ensure the safe operation of agricultural equipment, which restricts access to modify emissions and horsepower. Manufacturers and dealers face stiff fines for violating these rules. HB23-1011 opens the door to illegal tampering in violation of EPA’s Clean Air Act.
The new law is an albatross that grew from six to 10 pages with more than 20 amendments. Eric Wareham, vice president of government affairs for the North American Equipment Dealers Assn., said that makes its ramifications difficult to predict. “This bill seems to basically give carte blanche to anyone to have full access and will create a mandate for manufacturers to provide that access. It’s a mess of a bill at this point, really a Frankenstein bill that’s very convoluted, very complex, and even as an attorney, I have difficulty reading and understanding the intent behind the language.”
State law cannot supersede federal law but that’s what the new law is trying to allow relative to the Clean Air Act and EPA rules on illegal tampering, Wareham said. “The statute can say whatever it wants, but federal law still has those penalties in place to create a substantial liability for dealers who are dealing with equipment that’s been modified.”
Two additional components of the bill are price fixing on parts and requiring the manufacturer to sell parts directly to end users. “That would be a large shakeup from what is the traditional supply chain model in our industry,” Wareham said. “This would essentially circumvent the dealership.”
This law lays bare all that is wrong with the legislative process and the dishonest lawmakers who manipulate it. Shameless politicians.
Joani Woelfel is the president and CEO of Far West Equipment Dealers Association, which serves to protect and promote the interests of equipment dealers in seven western states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
