Enjoy the price you pay for eggs today, because they are likely going up according to a July 21 report in the Phoenix Business Journal. An agreement between the Humane Society of the United States and the United Egg Producers could result in additional costs for farmers, including the Valley’s Hickman’s Family Farms, as new […]
Tag: legislation
Posted in, National
Federal Reserve Final Swipe Fee Ruling Angers Retailers, Consumers Nationwide
by Millie Adcox/staff writer The U.S. Federal Reserve’s backpedaling and final ruling on debit card swipe fees on June 30 is the result of much lobbying and backroom high pressuring from U.S. banks that saw their revenue leaking like a sieve from their bottom line, according to several industry trade groups. “Every month the largest […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Banning the Bag: The Sequel Coming to a Store Near You
Every summer you can bet on two things coming from California: A blockbuster story hitting the movie screen and blockbuster legislation. Last year’s story was Assembly Bill 1998, a statewide bill to ban plastic bags and require a charge for paper bags. Grocers made the difficult decision to support the bill because we knew that […]
Posted in, National
N.G.A. Calls for FDA to Modify Menu Labeling Proposal
The National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) in public comments filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 5, strongly opposed the FDA’s proposed rule for mandatory menu labeling that would include supermarkets and grocery stores as similar retail food establishments to restaurants. N.G.A. urged the FDA to adopt its proposed alternative/Option 2, which would […]
Posted in, National
Fed Softens Rule to Cut Debit Card Swipe Fees
In a move that, according to USA Today, disappointed both sides of the contentious issue, the Federal Reserve Board voted June 29 to soften a rule that will cap the fees banks charge retailers when consumers use debit cards.
Posted in, Another Side, Southwest
Government on All Levels Add Burdens to Business
ON THE BORDER—With both the White House and FMI addressing the quest to erase “food deserts” around our country, there has been substantial press on the subject. The reference is to rural, or even urban areas, where there is an insufficient supply of supermarkets or grocers to serve the community with healthy, nutritious food. A […]
Posted in, National
FMI Responds to Amendment to Kill Swipe Fees
On June 7, Senators Jon Tester (D-Montana) and Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) offered an amendment to the Economic Development Revitalization Act of 2011 (S. 782) to delay debit card swipe fee reforms.
Posted in, Equipment & Technology, National
FMI Starts Online Petition Supporting Swipe Fee Reform
by Lorrie Griffith/editor On the one-year anniversary of the Durbin Amendment in May, hometown businesses and their customers across America are still facing the financial difficulties of the ongoing battle against interchange swipe fees, according to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). To keep focus on this important issue, FMI has launched an online petition for […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Help Us, Mr. Attorney General — Our Industry Is on the Ropes
CGA President Ronald Fong continues his series of open letters to our newly elected state constitutional officers. This issue’s letter is addressed to California Attorney General Kamal D. Harris. Dear Attorney General Harris, California is the nation’s leader in many things and most of them are admirable. But our state’s increasingly anti-grocery regulatory and litigation […]
Posted in, National, Southeast
Georgia Legislature Sends Booze Bill to Governor
After five years of heated lobbying that pitted grocery and convenience stores against preachers, the Georgia General Assembly gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that could lead to Sunday package sales, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Governor Nathan Deal has already said he will sign Senate Bill 10, which the House approved Tuesday by a vote […]
Posted in, California Perspective, West
An Open Letter to Gov. Brown from the State’s Grocery Community
With California facing the challenge of a fiscal crisis larger than any in recent memory, state legislators, officials and the governor will have to make tough decisions to eliminate a near-$26 billion shortfall in the state budget. California’s grocery industry will be part of this process, but shouldn’t shoulder an unfair portion of the solution. […]
Posted in, Beverage News, C-Store News, Southwest
Grocers Lose Fight Over Full-Strength Beer
A legislative effort to let Colorado grocery and convenience stores sell full-strength beer died in a landslide on the House floor Monday after a month of intense debate on the subject, reports the Denver Business Journal. House Bill 1284, sponsored by Reps. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, and Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, pitted those stores against locally […]
Posted in, National, The Independent Perspective
Obamacare: One Year Later
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]arch 23 will mark the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), often referred to as “Obamacare.” In January 2011 the House of Representatives successfully passed H.R. 2 (245-189), which would repeal PPACA. However, the legislation is largely symbolic and has no chance for consideration in the Senate. […]
Posted in, From My Point of View, National
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
We are on a path that our government says will leave us $1,500,000,000,000 (one trillion, five hundred billion dollars) in debt for the fiscal year 2011. And in the same breath, our government tells us they need 193,000 new employees (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Government Needs to Add 193,000 New Hires,” Jan. 16, 2011). Just the […]
Posted in, National, West
Utah Passes Food Tax Bill
The Utah Senate passed a bill that that would raise the tax on food, but lower taxes on other items, reports Forbes. The Senate approved Senate Bill 270 on a 19-9 vote on Monday. It now moves to the House. Adams of Layton says the measure would add stability, since most food sales don’t drop […]
Posted in, National, The Independent Perspective
The 112th Congress Takes Office
Now is the time to build relationships and educate new members. A number of important and encouraging pieces of legislation passed at the end of 2011 that will have positive implications for independent retailers and wholesalers: the favorable extension of the estate tax at a top rate of 35 percent with a $5 million exemption, […]