Connecticut's Right-to-Repair Law Takes Effect Today. Texas Is Next.

Connecticut's right-to-repair requirements take effect today, July 1. Manufacturers of electronics and appliances manufactured, sold, or used in the state must now make documentation, parts, and tools available to consumers and independent repair shops, on the same footing they give their authorized servicers.

The provisions came in through Senate Bill 3, the consumer protection omnibus the legislature passed in 2025. Covered documentation includes product diagrams, manuals, schematics, and service code descriptions. Parts means functional replacement components, new or used. Tools covers hardware and software, including the updates needed to calibrate or repair a product. Availability runs three or five years depending on the product's price.

There are carve-outs. The act excludes a range of motorized and specialized equipment, and manufacturers don't have to hand over trade secrets or reach products no longer in production. Enforcement runs through the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act: Section 3(f) of Public Act 25-44 reserves enforcement to the state attorney general and bars CUTPA's private remedy, so the state, not a private right of action, carries the stick.

For appliance techs, the headline is that appliances are squarely covered. A shop in Hartford can now request the service manual and diagnostic software for a covered range or washer and cite state law if the manufacturer stalls.

Texas follows on September 1. HB 2963, which Governor Abbott signed in June 2025, made Texas the first Republican-led state with a consumer electronics repair law. It requires parts, tools, and documentation on fair and reasonable terms, priced at or below what authorized providers pay, for electronics wholesaling above $50. Documentation must stay available three years for products priced $50 to $99.99 and seven years above $100. One gap worth knowing: the Texas law does not prohibit parts pairing, and it excludes medical devices, motor vehicles, farm equipment, and game consoles.

Parts pairing is where the fight has moved. Colorado's HB24-1121 and Washington's HB 1483, both effective January 1 of this year, restrict manufacturers from using software locks that reject unapproved replacement parts. Colorado's law covers digital electronic equipment, which can reach app-connected appliances. Expect that language to show up in the next wave of bills, because a parts mandate means little if the control board refuses the part.

That next wave is already here. The Repair Association counted more than 33 right-to-repair bills filed across 13 states in early 2026 sessions, including three in Massachusetts and two each in Florida and Missouri, plus bills in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Delaware, Maine, and Wyoming. Nathan Proctor, who runs PIRG's right-to-repair campaign, told Waste Dive in January that "there's a lot to point to" suggesting an active year, with more activity still developing in the background.

The playbook for shops in newly covered states is the one California techs have been running since SB 244 took effect, which we covered in our California right-to-repair breakdown. Request the documentation you've been denied. Cite the statute when refused. Keep records of parts orders that get slow-walked or priced above what authorized servicers pay, because complaint-driven enforcement only works if somebody complains.

For the economics behind why manufacturers resist and what repair access does to service markets, see our summary of the Management Science research on right-to-repair, published yesterday. Our running state-by-state tracker has the full map.

Eight states down. Thirteen more in play this session.

Sources

• Connecticut SB 3 / Public Act 25-44, "An Act Concerning Consumer Protection and Safety" (right-to-repair provisions in Section 3, eff. July 1, 2026). LegiScan · Public Act text (cga.ct.gov)
• Texas HB 2963, consumer electronics right-to-repair (eff. Sept. 1, 2026). Texas Legislature Online
• Colorado HB24-1121, "Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment" (eff. Jan. 1, 2026). Colorado General Assembly
• Washington HB 1483, right-to-repair for digital electronic products (eff. Jan. 1, 2026). Washington State Legislature
• Nathan Proctor (PIRG) on 2026 right-to-repair bill activity ("33 bills in 13 states"). Waste Dive