The Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee advanced all three bills on its agenda, most notably passing SB 26-090 — a contested exemption of critical infrastructure IT equipment from Colorado's right-to-repair law — over objections from more than a dozen cybersecurity, repair, recycling, and small-business witnesses who argued the federal definition of 'critical infrastructure' is too vague and could be self-designated by manufacturers.
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Paul Roberts of Secure Repairs argued the federal definition 'is not specific about the types of devices that constitute critical infrastructure. It is vague' and that large firms like Cisco and IBM are using a cybersecurity concern 'to pad their bottom line.' Louis Rossman argued the bill 'allows the manufacturer themselves to self designate whether their equipment is for critical infrastructure,' giving manufacturers 'a blank check to exempt themselves.' Bill sponsor Senator Carson countered that the bill is 'a narrow, targeted clarification' not designed to cover consumer devices, and that the attorney general's office and governor's office are in agreement with the legislation.
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“This bill, Senate Bill 90, is not a retreat from that victory from that legislation. It's a narrow, targeted clarification that the broad consumer protections in our right to repair law are not designed to extend to systems that if compromised, could pose a threat to public safety, national security and or our national economy.”
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Sign in to subscribeSenate Business, labor and Technology committee will come to order. Ms. Jensen, please hold or call the roll. Senators Catlin. Here. Snyder. Liston. Here. Marchman. Here. Henriksen. Here. We have a quorum. We have three bills for consideration today. Senate Bill 90, Senate Bill 91, Senate Bill 114 starting with Senate Bill 90. And so Senator Carson, if you'd like to kick us off, please go ahead. Yes, thank you. Mr. Chairman and Vice Chairman, members of the committee. Hold on one second. Yeah, we need. We have a. Some technical difficulties. Are having some technical difficulties. Really? You'll have. You'll have to come back tomorrow. This bill can't be repaired. Okay. We're good. Okay. So let's try that again. Senator Carson, sorry about that. Thank you. Mr. Vice Chairman and members of the committee, happy to be here today with my co prime colleague, Senator from Manitou Springs, Senator Schneider. Two sessions ago this body took meaningful action to help Colorado consumers in House Bill 24:1121. This made Colorado one of the most robust right to repair states in the country. It clearly stated if you own a device, you have a right to repair it. Manufacturers must make…
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