AUGUSTA — Lawmakers voted Tuesday to override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill that would have implemented the state’s “right to repair” law, which was approved in a statewide vote in 2023.

The measure now moves to the Senate, which adjourned Tuesday without taking it up. The Senate does not have a deadline to act on the veto, but they could vote on it as soon as next week.

The 2023 referendum was framed as a way to give customers the option to have their technology-laden automobiles repaired without having to rely on auto dealers, which typically charge more than independent shops.

The implementing bill, sponsored by Tiffany Roberts, D-South Berwick, originally passed the House last year with a veto-proof margin, 135-12. It cleared the Senate, too, but Mills vetoed it.

Dozens of House lawmakers changed their votes to align with the governor, but a 96-44 vote Tuesday cleared the required two-thirds hurdle to override the veto.

Mills said she vetoed the bill because it contained a “controversial provision” that would give auto manufacturers too much control over how to share important computer diagnostic information with independent shops.

Mills said hundreds of independent shops expressed worries about the bill and that she was “sympathetic to their concerns.”

Proponents of the bill said the provision was needed to conform to federal standards and to protect data from hackers. Some suggested that Mills, who is running for U.S. Senate, made a political decision to veto the bill, rather than a legal decision.

Rep. Shelley Rudnicki, R-Fairfield, cautioned lawmakers against sustaining Mills’ veto simply because they don’t understand the bill.

“This is complicated and needs adjustment,” Rudnicki said. “Let’s be honest about something else. A lot of people in this building want higher office. Some want statewide office. Some want federal office. Voters are watching how we handle issues like this.”

Roberts, who had her bill vetoed, and who is running for the 1st Congressional District seat, said Mills’ veto message repeated talking points used by lobbyists for independent repair shops, and did not highlight any specific legal concerns with the bill.

“Instead, the veto relies on predictions, characterizations, and generalized fears about what the bill might do, without tethering those claims to the text of the bill itself,” Roberts said.

Mills, who has had Democratic majorities in the House and Senate since she became governor in 2019, has vetoed 55 bills. None of her vetoes have been overridden.

The veto effort now moves to the Senate, where the bill originally passed 21-14 — two votes short of the two-thirds needed for a veto-proof majority.