California Lawmakers Reject Bill to Ban Paper Receipts
California lawmakers recently rejected a bill meant to ban paper receipts. The proposal would have required businesses to ask customers if they wanted a paper receipt before printing one, and businesses would have been forbidden to print coupons or advertisements on receipts unless requested by the customer. Assembly Bill 161 by Assemblymember Phil Ting of San Francisco stalled in the state’s Senate Appropriations Committee as the legislature pared bills before the final two weeks of the session. Advocates of the California bill to ban paper receipts, dubbed Skip the Slip, suggested it would reduce paper waste in the state. The bill initially would have required businesses to provide customers electronic receipts unless a paper printout was requested. After an outcry about privacy concerns related to digital receipts and what it would cost small businesses to use new payment software, that provision was dropped. The move to ban paper receipts also faced strong opposition from the California Restaurant Association and the California Retailers Association.