Committee reviews convenience-store exemption in unit-pricing bill

The House Agriculture Committee reviewed draft language on April 22 that would exempt certain convenience stores from a proposed unit-pricing requirement in H942. Chair (Chair) said the committee and stakeholders had worked together and that a version acceptable to the agency and retailers had been circulated.

Mark Bucat of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (Weights and Measures) told the committee the agency and the Vermont Retail Grocers Association had a shared draft and were comfortable with it. Scott (legal staff) described the compromise: rather than a tightly prescriptive legal definition, the draft lists typical items sold at a small convenience store and gives the agriculture secretary discretion to determine whether a business meets the exemption criteria.

Public commenters who operate convenience stores urged the committee to adopt the exemption. One owner said, “I have never gotten a complaint, on unit pricing in my in my entire history,” and argued unit-pricing would impose a cost burden on small-format retailers. Chris Smiley of Maple Field stores testified that quick transactions and limited grocery selection make unit-pricing costly to implement for his stores.

Tricia Brown, secretary of the Vermont Retail Grocers Association, thanked the committee and said VRGA supports the language because requiring unit-pricing would have been a large burden on members.

The committee signaled comfortable support for the compromise language and agreed to keep refining text on the committee page before finalizing the bill. Members said they hoped to finish bill language by Friday and begin votes early next week.