Right to Repair 'Polling Well' in Massachusetts

Nov. 3, 2020

"Question 1," the item on the Massachusetts state ballot that if passed, will preserve independent tire dealership and auto service facilities' access to telematically transmitted repair and diagnostic information, is “polling extremely well,” Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association, said during a Nov. 3 briefing.

“On the advocacy side, I want everyone to” understand “how important it is” to support consumer and shop access to repair and diagnostic data, Hanvey noted. 

“We’ve invested a significant amount of resources… to be able to support the legislation,” he said.

Automobile manufacturers “threw everything they could at the voters in Massachusetts” in opposition, but “it looks like we’re going to come out ahead," according to Hanvey. 

"We held true to our campaign. We kept our message elevated. We kept our message simple. And we kept it so the voters could understand.” 

During the briefing, Hanvey also recognized the association’s efforts to help ensure that auto repair facilities were deemed essential during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Without the (essential declaration), we’d be talking from a much different perspective right now. We navigated through 1,100 legislative approvals… in order to declare our industry essential, and in many cases, that was down to almost the county level."