A California bill would limit self-checkout lanes. What’s it really about?

For more than a year, California businesses’ concerns about retail theft have taken top billing in the Capitol, spurring more than a dozen new laws. But the grocery and drug store workers who deal with thefts and other crimes every day have their own ideas about how to address those threats.

Some of those ideas make up a controversial bill that would limit self-checkout lanes, the latest measure pitting new technology against workers to stir up controversy in the California Capitol.

The legislation, SB1446, would require stores to have each worker manage no more than two self-checkout kiosks at once and be relieved of other responsibilities. Businesses must also issue a notice of new technologies that could impact workers at least 60 days before implementation under the bill.