Texas Gave Every Resident The Right To Fix Their Own Electronics And It Passed 130 To Zero

Texas House Bill 2963, the Texas Right to Repair Act, took effect on September 1, 2026, making Texas the ninth state in the country to guarantee residents the legal right to fix their own consumer electronics. The law passed the Texas Legislature with a vote of 130 to zero in the House and 31 to zero in the Senate, a unanimous bipartisan result that reflects polling consistently showing roughly three out of four Texas residents support right to repair policies. The law requires manufacturers of consumer electronics with a wholesale price of more than fifty dollars to make the same parts, tools, and repair documentation available to consumers and independent repair shops that they already provide to their own authorized service centers, on fair and reasonable terms. The devices covered include smartphones, laptops, tablets, cameras, and speakers. Excluded from the law are video game consoles, large home appliances, medical devices, motor vehicles, farm equipment, and industrial equipment. Importantly, consumers can now repair their own devices without voiding their warranty, a protection that reverses years of manufacturer policy designed to funnel every repair back through expensive authorized channels.

Nathan Proctor, senior director of the US Public Interest Research Group's Right to Repair campaign, called the law a major step forward and said it allows Texans to get access to the parts, tools, and other things they need to fix modern electronics rather than being forced to pay for expensive authorized repairs or buy a new device entirely. Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, added that more accessible and easier repair means less often-toxic electronic waste, more savings for consumers, and a boost for local repair shops. The right to repair movement has gained significant momentum across the United States over the past several years, driven by frustration with manufacturers who restrict access to parts and information to protect their own service revenue and, in some cases, to accelerate device replacement cycles. Only devices sold in Texas on or after September 1 are covered, meaning manufacturers have time to update their supply chains, but every new phone or laptop sold in the state going forward must come with a path to affordable repair when something goes wrong. The law does not require manufacturers to hand over trade secrets or remove legitimate security measures, making it a carefully balanced approach that the entirely Republican-dominated Texas legislature unanimously decided was reasonable.

Source:https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/new-laws-texas-september-22364299.php