Regulatory Wrap-Up: Insider’s guide to retail-related legislative developments

Wages

Maine: Governor LePage is supporting a bill to scale back the scheduled increases in the state’s minimum wage law that passed by ballot initiative in 2016. The proposal would reduce the 2018 wage from $10/hr to $9.50/hr and allow for increases to $11/hr by 2021 instead of the previously approved $12/hr. It would also eliminate the cost-of-living adjustment and establish a training wage. The proposal faces an uphill climb in the state legislature.

Massachusetts: The Joint Labor and Workforce Development Committee heard testimony earlier this week on the merits of proposed ballot initiatives that would mandate paid leave as well as raise the state minimum wage to $15/hr. The legislature could adopt the initiatives as proposed but if it does not or passes legislation that is in anyway different from the proposed initiative, activists could still proceed to the ballot.

Rhode Island: Activists that successfully won a 2017 minimum wage increase to $10.50/hr by 2019 are again pushing legislation - this time increasing the state’s wage level further to $15/hr.

Utah: The Democratic sponsor who annually, and unsuccessfully, introduces legislation to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr is now sponsoring a bill that would require a more nominal increase to $12/hr. Also included in the proposal is an increase in the cash wage to at least $3.25/hr, up from the current $2.13/hr. Due to strong Republican majorities in both chambers, a wage increase is unlikely to pass at this time, but the inclusion of potential changes to the cash wage for tipped employees is a notable development.

Washington: A house committee heard industry testimony in support of a law that would allow younger workers or those out of work more than five years to be paid 75% of the state minimum wage for a limited period of time after hiring.

Redwood City, CA: The city council concluded a series of public workshops on legislation to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15/hr by 2019. Current state law calls for a longer escalation to $15/hr by 2022. Several cities in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley are considering, or have already enacted, similar mandates. The bill will be voted on during the March 26 council meeting.

St. Paul, MN: During an annual “Meet the Mayors” address to both the Minneapolis and St. Paul chambers of commerce and other business leaders, Mayor Melvin Carter reiterated his intent to pursue a $15/hr minimum wage ordinance similar to the current law in Minneapolis.

Paid Leave

Maryland: Senate Democrats have indicated support for a bill that would delay implementation of the recently passed paid leave law but house Democrats are reluctant to revisit the issue. Progress on a delay bill is unlikely prior to the law going into effect Feb. 11.

Taxes

Georgia: An economic nexus bill that passed the house but stalled in the senate last year, advanced through the Senate Finance Committee this week. The committee vote suggests more momentum in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to review the nexus standards of a similar South Dakota law. The bill would require remote sellers with annual retail sales exceeding $250,000 into the state, or at least 200 in-state transactions, to either collect and remit sales tax or report the tax information.

Soda Taxes

Philadelphia, PA: The state Supreme Court agreed to take up the industry-backed appeal of their case to overturn the city’s 1.75 cents per ounce tax on sugary beverages. The case has lost twice in lower courts since the law went into effect in 2017.

San Francisco, CA: The city has been granted en banc review of their appeal of the 9th Circuit decision which invalidated a 2015 law mandating health warning labels on some soda advertisements. The rare session in front of an eleven judge panel is only granted in roughly twenty cases per year.

Retail Crime

Tennessee: Sen. Richard Briggs introduced legislation establishing penalties for pawn shops and other second-hand stores that do not comply with the gift card database law that passed in 2017 that requires them to input gift card sales into a database for use by law enforcement. Criminals and drug addicts are known to return stolen merchandise to a store in exchange for a gift card which is then sold to a third-party seller such as a pawn shop for cash.

Menu Labeling

Philadelphia, PA: The city council is considering legislation to mandate that chain restaurants include a warning label beside items on their menu that have high sodium content, defined as 2,300 milligrams. Industry representatives continue to negotiate language and the bill now excludes delivery and limited time offerings.

Labor Policy

NLRB: The National Labor Relations Board extended the deadline to March 19 for responses to the Request for Information on the agency’s review of the 2014 ambush election rule.

Labor Activism

Fight for $15: Marking the 50th anniversary of the famous Memphis sanitation workers’ strike, Fight for $15 will hold protests at QSRs in “two dozen southern cities” on Feb. 12. While QSRs appear to be the initial targets, other restaurants and retail locations could also experience protests and disruptions as well.

Key Takeaways

• The announcement this week that Amazon, JP Morgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway are forming a healthcare company to lower healthcare costs for their employees could be a game changer. They intend to leverage their internal technical expertise and take cus