California’s Sacramento-seated collectivists have forced the minimum wage to rise to $20 per hour, which was immediately followed by mass lay-offs and resulted in many businesses turning to automation. Now, it seems, they have realized the error of their ways.
This doesn’t mean they’ll repeal the minimum wage edict that created the problem. No - they’ll just put forth new laws like SB1446. A proposed state law could change regulations on self-checkout, forcing some stores to do away with the service altogether.
Just after many businesses made the expensive long-term move to automation and kiosks, they’ll still be forced to hire and pay people $20 an hour on top of it anyway. Or they can just close their doors and go out of business.
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Proposed CA Senate Bill 1446 would “prohibit a grocery or retail drug establishment from providing a self-service checkout option for customers unless specified conditions are met,” according to a proposed legislation summary.
Some of those conditions:
- Checkouts are limited to 10 items or less
- At least one manual staffed checkout station is available
- Customers are prohibited from purchasing certain items
- An employee can only monitor up to two self-service stations
- Employee is relieved from all other duties while monitoring
"This act will protect workers and the public by ensuring safe staffing levels at grocery and drug stores and regulating self-checkout machines in a way that’s being smart on crime," said Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles told NBC Bay Area.
Of course, elected officials might have been able to be “smart on crime” by increasing the penalty for shoplifting. But in 2014 California downgraded certain thefts from a felony to a misdemeanor if the value of the stolen goods was less than $950. That was totally not an incentive for criminals.
Surely, this issue is not a problem that can't be remedied by creating yet another law regulating business.
CA lawgivers seem ready with new diktats in hand that certainly, in no-way, could possibly make the situation even worse.
Just look at their excellent track record.
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