Rep. Kristin Howard, D-Chester, speaks during a news conference.

WARREN, Pa. — In March, legislatures in half of the United States are considering so-called “right to repair” bills for consumer electronics.

Pennsylvania can now be added to that list.

Rep. Kristine C. Howard, D-Chester, has introduced House Bill 1757, legislation similar to French legislation approved last year to require some electronic device makers to tell consumers how repairable their products are. Manufacturers selling devices in France must self-report a repairability index based on a range of criteria including how easy it is to take the product apart and the availability of spare parts and technical documents. The French legislation was the first such program in the world, and its passage prompted at least 25 states to propose such legislation by early March, according to the Associated Press.

“Yesterday’s fancy new gadget is tomorrow’s garbage,” Howard wrote in her legislative memorandum. “Television stopped working? Buy a new one. Microwave shorted out? Buy a new one. Phone screen cracked? Buy a new one. While discussions of our throwaway culture frequently revolve around our collective impatience, the larger issue is waste. When our broken – or merely older – electronics become garbage, they flood our landfills and roadsides with hazardous and non-renewable components, components which must be mined and manufactured anew with great environmental impact for each new device.”

The Pennsylvania proposal includes a repairability score requirement for manufacturers that would be placed on packaging in addition to a quick response code to guide a consumer to the full repairability information on the manufacturer’s website or the state Attorney General’s website. The index would include scores for duration and availability of technical documents, ease of dismantling the electronics, the tools required, an estimate of how long key parts will last, the amount of time replacement parts will be available, the price ratio or replacement parts to the price of new equipment, the potential to recycle or dispose of the digital equipment and the expertise required to repair the equipment.

While “right to repair” bills are popping up in state legislatures throughout the country, they aren’t uniform across the country. According to the Associated Press, Nevada’s bill would apply to consumer electronics worth less than $5,000 wholesale and exempt equipment used for gambling.

Lawmakers in Nebraska have tailored repair legislation to agricultural equipment and farmers while California is considering requiring medical equipment manufacturers make available information on how to repair devices like ventilators.

According to the AP, TechNet, a trade group that lobbies for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell and other device manufacturers, has mounted vigorous opposition to the repair bills in state legislatures. Cameron Demetre, the organization’s regional executive director, told the AP in March manufacturers worried about “unvetted third parties” having access to the personal information stored in consumer electronics. He said the bill had “the potential for troubling unintended consequences, including serious adverse security, privacy and safety risks.”

Consumer Electronics Association lobbyist Walter Alcorn testified to Nevada lawmakers that technology companies operate in a competitive marketplace and told lawmakers that their worries about unauthorized repair shops tinkering with their technology could compromise public perception of their products.

“One of the reasons that consumer electronics manufacturers are so sensitive is that their business model is based on their brand reputation,” he said. “The concern that these companies have in protecting their brands — and these products still carry their names on them — is in particular that the repairs will be done wrong or that substandard parts will be included and the customer experience will be different.”

Repair business owners have argued that manufacturers have made it increasingly difficult to purchase the parts needed to fix machines. Howard raised that issue in her legislative memorandum, arguing the current system simply encourages wasteful spending and devices taking up space in landfills.

“To make matters worse, many products today discourage any other behavior,” Howard wrote. “Devices are deliberately made difficult to repair, with access to information on how to make repairs kept scarce, ensuring even those with the interest and skills are prevented from doing so. This is manufactured helplessness, plain and simple.”