What Changes on September 1
Texas passed HB 2963 unanimously in 2025, making it the first Republican-led state with a consumer electronics right-to-repair law. It takes effect September 1, 2026.
From that date, manufacturers of digital electronic equipment sold to Texas consumers for over $50 (laptops, smartphones, tablets and similar devices) must make parts, tools, and repair documentation available on fair and reasonable terms, to both owners and independent repair shops.
Why that matters in plain terms: the thing that kills most independent repair isn't skill, it's access. Shops that can't buy a genuine screen or get the service manual either turn you away or charge for workarounds. HB 2963 removes that barrier for a state of 30 million people, and manufacturers rarely build Texas-only supply chains, so the parts access tends to spill over everywhere else.
What's Covered, and What Isn't
Covered: digital electronic equipment over $50 bought for personal or household use. Phones, laptops, tablets are the core of it.
Not covered, and worth knowing before you rely on it:
- Game consoles. Excluded, as in most state laws
- Home appliances with embedded electronics. Your smart fridge and washer are outside this law
- Motor vehicles, farm equipment, and medical devices, which have their own rules
- No parts-pairing ban. Unlike Colorado's law, HB 2963 doesn't stop manufacturers from software-locking parts to a specific device. A genuine replacement part can still throw warnings or lose features if the maker pairs components in software
That last one is the honest caveat: access to parts is necessary but not always sufficient. For how your specific model actually behaves, check its repairability score on our repair vs replace device pages before assuming a cheap fix.
What It Means for Your Repair Bill
The practical effects, in rough order of arrival:
More shops able to say yes. Independent shops gain a legal right to genuine parts, tools and manuals. Repairs that used to be authorized-service-only become shoppable.
Competition on price. Authorized repair pricing has held up partly because it had no competition for certain fixes. Where independents can do the same repair with the same parts, prices move. See our repair guides for Houston, Dallas, Austin and Fort Worth for what repairs cost today, and watch what happens after September.
Older devices stay fixable longer. Documentation and parts access is what keeps a 5-year-old laptop repairable at all. That shifts the repair-or-replace math toward repair, which is exactly the question our decision tool prices out for your specific device.
It won't be instant. The law sets obligations; supply chains and shop practices take months to catch up. Expect the difference to be visible over the following year, not the following week.
How to Actually Use It
If you repair it yourself: from September 1 you can request parts, tools and documentation from the manufacturer for covered devices. "Under Texas HB 2963, I'm requesting the service documentation and parts availability for [model]." Keep it in writing.
If you use a shop: ask an independent shop first, and if they say they can't get parts for a covered device, it's now worth asking why. The answer changes after September 1. A shop quoting genuine parts at an independent labor rate is the sweet spot this law creates.
Before paying anything: run the numbers. A repair that made no sense at authorized pricing may clear the bar at independent pricing. [Check whether your device is worth fixing](/decide) with the actual quote in hand.
If a manufacturer stonewalls: the law is enforced through the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which means complaints go to the [Texas Attorney General's consumer protection division](https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection). Document the refusal.
The Bigger Picture: 8 States and Counting
Texas joins California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Colorado, Washington and Connecticut with consumer electronics right-to-repair laws in force, eight states covering well over a third of the US population. Each law differs in scope: Colorado bans parts pairing, Connecticut folded appliances in, Texas kept its version narrow but passed it unanimously.
The direction is one-way. Manufacturers increasingly build one repair program for the strictest state and apply it everywhere, which is why a law in Austin changes what a repair shop in Tulsa can get.
Track every jurisdiction, including Canada's federal bills and provincial activity, on our right to repair tracker. And for why any of this matters beyond the bill, see why repair matters.