House Committee Votes To Scrap Pricing Law

LANSING (WWJ) - It's a big step forward for a bill to get rid of Michigan's law requiring a price tag on every item. A House committee in Lansing has voted to eliminate Michigan's long-standing item pricing law.

As it stands now, nearly every item in a store is required to have a sticker price on it. WWJ's Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick says lawmakers gave the repeal overwhelming support.

"Consumer groups continue to believe that (the item pricing law) is just a consumer-friendly idea.  When you pick up a product, a bowl of soup or whatever, you want to know what the price is, you need a sticker on it," Skubick said.

"But, the retail industry and the governor have said we really don't need this law. There's a technology there to deal with it and the House committee has agreed," he said.

The bill's sponsor, Representative Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto, says the approved repeal included some changes.

"It does eliminate the item pricing requirement, that's older than I am, but it still maintains the consumer protections that shoppers have come to know in Michigan, and that they deserve," she said.

"This bill does require that the price of an item be clearly and reasonably conveyed to the consumer in the store, at the place the item is located.  And we think that that's a compromise that retailers are comfortable with," Posthumus Lyons said.

The repeal passed in a six-to-three vote.  Final passage of the bill is set for Wednesday. It would then go to the Senate.

State Representative Harvey Santana tells WWJ that, while Governor Snyder claims that ditching the pricing law would save money, he's ran down the numbers and disagrees.

"What we found out is that it's cheaper to buy groceries in the state of Michigan, with item pricing, as opposed to a state that doesn't have item pricing that is an apples-to-apples comparison to Michigan," Santana said.

In his state of the state address, Governor Snyder called the law antiquated. However, poll numbers have shown Michigan residents are split on the issue. (More on this).

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