HARRISVILLE — Ohio Congressman Michael Rulli stopped by LKQ Route 250 Auto Parts in Harrison County on Monday morning to meet with employees and discuss the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act or the “REPAIR Act.”

The purpose of the act is to protect consumers’ rights to repair their own vehicles while also ensuring the continued safe operation of registered passenger and commercial motor vehicles.

LKQ Director of Government Affairs Catherine Boland said that she believes the act is crucial to ensuring everyday people the ability to work on their own vehicles and not have to rely on taking it to the dealership where they purchased the vehicle.

“As vehicles have become more complicated, it’s getting harder and much more expensive for consumers to be able to repair their vehicle,” Boland said. “Gone are the days where you could easily fix your car under a tree. Now you need data access. You need data information. You need to be able to recalibrate sensors.”

She added that the purpose of the meeting was to inform Rulli of the importance of providing consumers and vehicle owners the ability to choose where and with what parts to repair their vehicles.

She spoke to Rulli about LKQ’s role in keeping vehicles modern, running logistics, salvage operations, and the company’s economic contribution to the local economy.

Boland said that the REPAIR Act is important for customers and believes Congress needs to act before it is too late for customers to have any options as to where or how they get their vehicles repaired.

In February, U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., introduced the REPAIR Act.

“Your vehicle belongs to you, not the manufacturer. I am introducing the REPAIR Act to provide a binding, workable solution to anti-competitive behavior in the auto repair industry to reaffirm consumer control over their vehicle maintenance data and empower them to work with repair shops big and small,” Dunn said in a press release posted on his website.

“The fewer of you there are, the less freedom there is,” Rulli said to Boland on Monday.

Rulli added that if there are less companies like LKQ in the market, then customers will have fewer opportunities or choices. He said he was pleasantly surprised with the extensive inventory LKQ had at the 250 Auto Parts location.

Rulli believes if companies like LKQ go by the wayside, then prices will continue to rise.

“If you’re not careful, people will monopolize the market and it’ll just go away, and I think you prevent that,” he said.

The next step for the act will be for it to be passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but a date has not been set for a vote.