Another day, another proposed law limiting freedom in Democrat-run Washington state.
Democrats in the Washington State House of Representatives want to regulate the use of self-checkout machines at grocery stores.
A bill that has 10 Democrat sponsors, introduced in January, had its first committee hearing on Wednesday. House Bill 1739 would limit self-checkout use to times when at least one traditionally human-staffed checkout lane is open.
In addition, store employees who are assigned to monitor self-checkouts would be restricted to overseeing no more than two machines at a time. The law would apply to stores like Fred Meyer, where many goods are sold other than groceries. In many stores, the self-checkout monitors oversee about six stations.
Customers would would be allowed to scan only up to 15 items per transaction.
The proposed regulations would apply to grocery stores larger than 15,000 square feet but would exempt bulk goods stores requiring memberships.
The Department of Labor and Industries would be responsible for enforcing the rules, with penalties for noncompliance. Representative Fosse said the bill addresses concerns about automation and understaffing affecting grocery workers across the state.
A similar bill was offered in California, another Democrat stronghold, but failed to pass both houses of the legislature in 2024.
