The Grocery Price Transparency Act
Big grocery chains are beginning to install digital price tags that allow them to change the cost of your food with a single keystroke. This opens the door to "surge pricing"—hiking the price of water during a heatwave or raising the cost of eggs during the Saturday morning rush. This isn't just "smart" technology; it’s a way to squeeze more profit out of families when they are at their most vulnerable.
The Solution: I am proposing the Grocery Price Transparency Act to ban predatory pricing practices in our local markets. We need to ensure that the price you see on the shelf is the price you pay at the register.
Banning Surge Pricing: Prohibiting grocery stores from using "dynamic pricing" algorithms to raise prices based on time of day, weather, or store traffic.
The 24-Hour Price Guarantee: Requiring that any price listed on a shelf must remain the same for at least a full 24-hour cycle. No "mid-day hikes."
Protecting Privacy: Prohibiting the use of facial recognition or "surveillance pricing" that tries to guess what you are willing to pay based on your personal data.
Physical Backup: Requiring large retailers to provide a clear, non-digital price display for essential goods so that a technical glitch or an algorithm never dictates the cost of your dinner.
Why I’m Fighting for This: I’ve lived through the weeks where every penny in the grocery budget was accounted for. If a gallon of milk suddenly jumps 50 cents while you're walking to the checkout, that might mean putting something else back. Enough is enough. Our neighbors deserve price certainty, not a digital guessing game.
Questions I asked myself:
"Is this just a ban on new technology?"
No. I am all for efficiency, but technology should work for the consumer, not against them. If digital labels are used to offer discounts on food nearing its expiration date to reduce waste, that’s great. But when they are used to "surge" prices during peak hours, that’s where I draw the line. My legislation allows for technology that helps families, but bans technology that exploits them.
"Won't this interfere with the free market?"
The market only works when there is transparency. A "free market" requires a buyer to know the price of a good before they decide to purchase it. When prices can change invisibly and instantly, that’s not a market—that’s an ambush. I’m fighting to restore the honest, transparent relationship between the store and the shopper.
"Does this affect small 'Mom and Pop' shops?"
I asked myself this specifically because I don't want to add more red tape to our local Ball Ground businesses. This legislation is targeted at large retailers (those with a floor area of over 10,000 square feet) that utilize automated algorithmic systems. Our small, local grocers are already doing it the right way; this is about holding the "Big Box" giants to the same standard of honesty.
