As a child growing up in Tumalo, my grandfather would bring over broken electronics he bought at Goodwill for us to take apart together. He taught me the importance of valuing and repairing things. Today, the gadgets that we depend on are fickle and often disposable. Apple sold hundreds of millions of iPods — it was the must-have gadget for a generation of teens. But do you know anyone who still has a functional iPod? The batteries wore out, and Apple never sold replacements. Repair problems don’t just impact gadgets: farmers are increasingly frustrated by locked-down software in modern tractors, stymieing fixes that were once routine.

We live in an increasingly disposable society. We used to own our things, but now it feels like we’re just renting them. That’s a real problem, impacting every corner of society from farmers to music enthusiasts.

But a growing grassroots Right to Repair movement is working to reverse that tide. The other day I attended an irrigation workshop put on by the School of Ranch, teaching the art of repair to the next generation of local farmers. And at the Repair Cafe in Sisters, our group of volunteers fixed: two lamps, a GoPro that had fallen off the chair at Mount Bachelor, an antique horse, a toaster, and scores of other objects. I was particularly proud of fixing a couple’s favorite waffle maker that they’d used every Saturday since their wedding in 1963. An iPod even walked in the door. Just like every other iPod in the world, the battery was dead. We didn’t have the parts to fix it on hand, but found them online.

It’s time to bring back an economy and culture where we value our things. In Central Oregon, where small businesses form the backbone of our economy, this means local repair shops should thrive, offering services for everything from farm equipment to smartphones. This would not only stimulate our local economy but also create jobs and foster competition, leading to fairer prices for all of us.

In the past year, Colorado, Minnesota, California and New York have passed Right to Repair laws covering everything from tractors to smartphones. Now, the Oregon Legislature is considering a repair bill drafted by state Sen. Janeen Sollman.

The proposed law requires manufacturers to provide the information, tools, and parts needed to fix our things to independent repair shops and consumers, enabling them to repair products rather than being forced to replace them or send them back to the manufacturer for costly repairs. This initiative directly aligns with the conservative values I was raised with: economic freedom, local self-reliance, and property rights. It also benefits the environment by fighting e-waste and reducing the need for manufacturing in regions with dirty power.

It’s not just about fixing things; it’s about preserving our right to maintain control over the products we own and ensuring economic stability for our local businesses. My company, iFixit, has partnered with Google and Microsoft to launch a parts store to help consumers and local repair shops repair smartphones.

But when I testified on the benefits of Right to Repair in Congress this summer, Rep. Cliff Bentz was outright dismissive, claiming that since we all know full well that we’re going to be ripped off before we buy a product, companies should have no obligation to enable repair options. His Republican colleague, Rep. Darrell Issa, disagreed, arguing that “By enacting comprehensive and well thought [out] Right to Repair, we can create fair competition, sustainable repair ecosystems, and benefit all shareholders.”

This is a grassroots driven, common-sense, bipartisan idea whose time has come. State Sen. Tim Knopp should partner with Sen. Sollman and lead the way.

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