11 Bills in MA Legislature with Direct Implications for Auto Repairers Under Consideration

At least ten bills introduced this year in the Massachusetts Legislature would have direct implications for auto repairers.

• Senate Bill (SB) 797 would set a $55/hour minimum labor rate for auto body repairs. It would also create an auto body labor rate advisory board, on which three auto repairers would sit, tasked with:
  • Creating, implementing and overseeing an annual survey collecting data on body shop labor rates and related info
  • Recommending a fair labor rate based on the findings in the survey.
  • Tasking the State Insurance Commissioner with setting a minimum labor rate (not less than $55/hour) within 30 days of receiving the auto body labor rate advisory board’s annual report
• House Bill (HB) 1280 would create new requirements for operating AVs on roads in the state, such as liability insurance coverage. It would also require the state to “allocate funding for workforce development initiatives to train residents for careers in autonomous vehicle technology, including software development, maintenance, and regulatory oversight." The bill doesn’t specify how much funding should be allocated towards these initiatives.
• HB 1285 and HB 1260 would set a minimum hourly labor rate an insurer must pay to a collision repairer based on the average labor rate for 100 sequential customer-paid collision repair orders or 60 consecutive days of customer-paid collision repair orders, whichever is less.
• SB 1305/ HB 1339 would require vehicles utilized by application-based transportation or delivery workers working for transportation network companies or Delivery Network Companies (Lyft, Uber, Instacart, etc.) to undergo an annual vehicle safety inspection.
• SB 2426 would require the state to create a list of vehicle safety glass that it has approved, based on the glass meeting or exceeding OEM specifications, for installation. Such glass must also meet or exceed the standards and requirements of the Automotive Glass Replacement Safety Standard, developed by the Auto Glass Safety Council under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute. Vehicle's with safety glass not on the state's list installed would not be allowed to be registered in the state.
• HB 3687 would exempt antique automobiles that are 45 years old or older, whose owners are members of a recognized antique automobile club, from the annual vehicle safety inspection program. The vehicle would have to undergo an inspection if the ownership changes.
• HB 3760 would suspend a vehicle's registration if the inspection sticker is over 60 days expired.
• HB 3779 would apply safety inspection requirements to leased vehicles. For example, a lease may be voided by the lessee if the motor vehicle fails to pass, within seven days from the lease start date, the inspection. Voiding the lease would require that the defects that caused the inspection failure not be the result of abusive or negligent operation or by damage resulting from an accident or collision occurring after the lease start date. Also, the cost of repairs needed to pass an inspection would need to exceed 10% of the total amount of payments due by the lessee over the full term of the lease.
• HB 3799 would make a new vehicle's first two inspections valid for two years each. Currently, they are only valid for one year.