New York Democrat Finds a New Way to Make Groceries More Expensive

New York Democrats have discovered a creative new way to fight inflation: simply order private businesses to charge less. The free market has no say in the matter.

State Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas, a Brooklyn Democrat, has introduced legislation requiring supermarkets, grocery stores, and other food retailers to give customers a 10 percent discount whenever they use self-checkout.

Assembly Bill A11501 was introduced May 28 and referred to the Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection. It never received a committee or floor vote. Even Albany Democrats didn't move it forward before the legislative session ended. Lucas nevertheless publicly promoted the proposal in July as an answer to New York's affordability crisis.

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The bill covers any “supermarket, grocery store or other food retailer” offering self-checkout. It directs each covered business to “reduce the price of any goods purchased” through one of those kiosks by 10 percent.

The New York attorney general could seek an injunction and restitution against a retailer accused of violating the mandate. If enacted, it would take effect 90 days after becoming law.

Lucas argues that customers deserve a share of the money retailers save when shoppers scan and bag their own purchases.

“If New Yorkers are doing part of the work, they should share in the savings. That’s only fair.”

Lucas said the measure would help working families, seniors, students, and residents living on fixed incomes. She also maintained that retailers benefit from greater efficiency and reduced operating costs when customers use automated checkout lanes.

There is no question that shoppers would enjoy paying $90 for $100 worth of groceries. The problem is that Lucas never explains where the missing $10 would come from.

Food retailers recorded an average net profit of just 2.1 percent in 2025, according to FMI, the Food Industry Association. That means a retailer receiving $100 in sales kept approximately $2.10 in profit after covering merchandise, wages, rent, utilities, spoilage, theft, and other expenses.

Knocking $10 off that same purchase does not merely reduce the store’s profit. Assuming its underlying costs remained the same, it would turn the transaction into an approximately $7.90 loss.

The proposed discount is nearly five times the industry's entire average net profit margin. That is the Albany way: mandate the expense, pocket the credit, and let someone else figure out how to pay for it.

FMI also reports that self-checkout accounted for 33 percent of supermarket transactions in 2025. The average in-store transaction totaled $49.06, making Lucas’ mandated discount approximately $4.91 on the average self-checkout purchase. The retailer’s average profit on a sale of that size would be only about $1.03.

A store could attempt to recover the difference by raising prices for everyone, including customers who prefer a cashier. It could also restrict self-checkout access or remove the machines entirely. Smaller grocers with less room to absorb losses would face the most pressure.

Even if self-checkout saves retailers some labor costs, Lucas provides no evidence that those savings reach anything close to 10 percent of every purchase. Stores still employ workers to monitor kiosks, verify ages, correct scanning errors, process payments, and deter theft.

The bill's supporting memorandum does not include an estimate of the cost to retailers. In fact, two of its disclosures are especially revealing:

"Prior legislative history: None. Fiscal implications for state and local governments: None."

Of course, there are no fiscal implications for the government. Lucas has assigned the entire cost to private businesses and then walked away.

Lucas calls A11501 a national leadership moment. Leading the nation into a mandate that exceeds the entire average profit margin of the grocery industry is not a distinction worth celebrating. The costs will land somewhere, and New York shoppers, already struggling, will be the ones who pay them.