Opinion: Automated checkout line bans (like CMs Cohen's and Candelas' for SJ) = wild local government overreach
SJ's proposed regulation of checkout lines at local grocery stores strike many as an extreme example of gov't meddling in business. Leaders in other states and cities that have considered similar moves are similarly dubious.
Rep. Mastrofrancesco (R-Wolcott) said she understood the proponents’ concerns, but that she opposed the bill based on her belief that it isn’t the role of government to “tell a private business how many people they should staff when it comes to self-checkouts.”
“Who are we," asked Mastrofrancesco, "to tell a business like Stop and Shop, 'you’ve got to have so many people manning your self-checkout?'"
Mastrofrancesco viewed the bill as the latest development in an increasingly over-regulated business environment.
“I just don’t think we have a right to regulate that for these small businesses,” said Mastrofrancesco. “The more we continue to do this, the more we continue to go down this path of putting onerous regulations on businesses, the more our young people that are trying to find jobs are going to suffer.”--Inside Investigator (CT)
Statewide checkout lane squeeze could cost grocers north of $400m (no typo), boosting prices
The proposed CA statewide bill would have prohibited a grocery retail store or a retail drug establishment from providing a self-service checkout option for customers unless specified conditions are satisfied, including having no more than two self-service checkout stations monitored by any one employee and requiring the employee to be relieved of all other duties.
An economic analysis of SB 1446, conducted by Encina Advisors, LLC on behalf of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, estimates that approximately 10,200 additional cashiers could be needed statewide to comply with the mandate. This could result in at least $497.1 million in additional costs falling upon grocery retailers annually. {Ed note: the statewide bill was rejected in 2025.}
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