State Affairs provides resources in the form of studies, research, testimony and regional and national meetings, to FMI member companies and State Associations as they tackle legislative and regulatory issues of importance in the state and local realm.

State Issue Papers

No Swipe Fees on Sales Tax Legislation

Nov 18, 2024
Prohibiting swipe fees on state sales tax will lift a costly burden on retailer and keep dollars in ...

Polystyrene and Plastic Straws

Nov 18, 2024
See the details on state and local efforts to restrict polystyrene and plastic ...

Food Additive Ban Legislation

Oct 10, 2024
California legislation approved in October 2023 potentially conflicts with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) authority and has acted as a catalyst for legislation in other ...

State Affairs Sustainability Outlook for 2025

Oct 10, 2024
FMI has created an initial “State Affairs Sustainability Outlook for 2025” document. It currently covers EPR, PFAS and Date ...

Single-Use Carryout Bags

Sep 26, 2024
Retailers support efforts to promote recycling and reduce bag litter. Still, there is no “one size fits all” solution to the shopping bag issue, and retailers should carefully examine any ...

Comparison of California and Maryland Baby Food Testing Laws

Aug 28, 2024
In Fall 2023, California legislation was approved that requires a manufacturer of baby food for sale or distribution in California to test and label food for sale for babies and young children less than two years of age. In 2024, legislation was ...

California AB 899/Chapter 668, Food Safety: Baby Food

Aug 28, 2024
Manufacturers of baby food for sale or distribution in California will have to comply with a new law regarding heavy metals beginning January 1, ...

California SB 1446, Regulating Self-Checkout Stands

Jun 25, 2024
A proposed California bill places limits on self-checkout stations and installs staffing requirements, in a bid to cut down on shoplifting and retain jobs. Business groups want shoplifters held responsible instead of imposing more mandates on ...

SNAP Food Choice

Mar 13, 2024
FMI supports freedom of choice in SNAP food selection and education geared toward healthy eating. Creating fifty different state rules and regulations would remove the efficiencies and fraud reductions USDA, the states and the grocery industry have ...

SNAP Photo ID

Jan 30, 2024
State legislative efforts to combat fraud in the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) sometimes turns toward efforts to require recipient pictures on SNAP EBT cards. While well-intentioned, there are a host of complex operational, ...

Enacted State Laws on PFAS in Food Packaging

Jan 10, 2024
Enacted State Laws on PFAS in Food ...

The California Food Safety Act, AB 418/Chapter 328

Oct 18, 2023
“The California Food Safety Act” (AB 418) is the first of its kind, providing for the regulation of the safety of food products, including adulterated and misbranded food, wholesale food, and food in retail food ...

CA Scope 1,2,3 GHG Emissions Disclosure Bill Signed into Law

Oct 10, 2023
California legislation (SB 253) requiring public disclosure of scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2026 and scope 3 GHG emissions by 2027, was signed into law by Governor Gavin ...

Latex Glove Bans in Food Service

Nov 30, 2022
See the state laws banning latex gloves in food ...

State INFORM Act Laws

Sep 23, 2022
Thirteen states have passed some form of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplace for Consumers Act (INFORM Act)...

State Price Gouging Laws

May 18, 2022
Generally, when a state’s governor declares a “state of emergency,” this automatically puts the state’s “price gouging” law into ...

Food Waste

Mar 16, 2022
The United States is calling for a 50-percent reduction of food waste in landfills by ...

Truth in Labeling on Recycling Materials

Mar 16, 2022
An overview of state legislation regarding how to label consumer products as ...

Minimum Recycled Content

Mar 16, 2022
Several new state laws require that consumer packaging contain increased amounts of recycled ...

Beverage Container Deposit Laws

Mar 16, 2022
Ten states and Guam currently have beverage container deposit ...

Face Covering Resources

Feb 24, 2022
This resource provides guidance on the ADA and face mask enforcement and information on state face mask public awareness ...

Minimum Wage

Feb 18, 2022
A compilation of talking points regarding the minimum ...

Enacted State and Local Premium Pay Mandates

Dec 15, 2021
This resource tracks enacted state and local premium pay ...

Pending State and Local Premium Pay Mandates

Sep 16, 2021
This resource tracks pending state and local premium pay ...

Inventory Taxes: Local, State and Federal

Jul 20, 2021
Some states and localities require businesses to pay taxes on ...

State and Local Limits on Facial Recognition Technology

Jul 15, 2021
To date, only two jurisdictions restrict the use of facial recognition technolgoy by private ...

States Ending Federal Unemployment Benefits Early

Jul 13, 2021
Twenty-six states have announced they will end their federally funded unemployment programs and associated benefits ...

States Address Civil Liability Protections for Businesses

Mar 26, 2021
During the COVID-19 pandemic, among the many issues the grocery industry must consider is the potential for lawsuits. States have taken to protecting businesses and healthcare workers from civil liability resulting from Coronavirus transmissions, ...

Mandatory Premium Pay

Feb 12, 2021
A one-pager on mandatory premium pay....

Tobacco Sales

Jan 14, 2021
As sellers of tobacco products, grocers need to be aware of laws surrounding these types of age-restricted products. This paper addresses federal, state and local law as it pertains to purchase age, tobacco flavoring and ...

State Workers' Compensation and COVID-19 Coverage

Nov 18, 2020
A number of states are moving quickly to update their workers’ compensation programs to address the ...

COVID-19 - WIC Waivers State by State

May 29, 2020
FNS is in the process of issuing individualized waiver approval letters to the State Agencies. These waivers allow for certain food package substitutions, as requested by the State or ITO, provided they are consistent with the nutritional basis of ...

COVID-19 - State Emergency Declarations - Truck Weight Limits and Hours of Service

May 14, 2020
Many states have declared a state of emergency, which frees up additional resources for the state, and in some cases, allows them to waive certain regulations to help address the COVID-19 outbreak. The states below have declared a state of emergency ...

COVID-19 - CDL Extensions By State

Mar 27, 2020
Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued an enforcement notice on expiring CDLs and commercial leaner’s permits (CLPs), the enforcement does not necessarily cover all fifty states....

State Emergency Declarations Relative to Mass Gatherings

Mar 16, 2020
A resource that tracks states' guidance on gatherings and travel. CDC references mass gatherings as events with 1000 or more people....

State Coronavirus Updates

Mar 16, 2020
Full compilation of all the various state and local (where available) announcements and executive actions related to the coronavirus that FMI is tracking. Includes emergency declarations, mass gathering orders and retail closures, waivers for truck ...

Paid Leave Legislation

Mar 2, 2020
There is increasing activity on paid leave at both the state and local ...

State Milk and Meat Labeling Laws

Feb 5, 2020
An emerging issue, 13 states have enacted bills regarding the labeling of milk and meat that is considered plant-based or cell-based. Already this session, more than ten states have introduced such ...

Antibiotic Use in Food Animals Issue Paper

Sep 3, 2019
This issue paper provides an overview of the current federal regulatory framework and argues that state and local mandates in this policy area are redundant and unnecessary....

The California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act

Aug 20, 2019
The California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act requires cleaning product manufacturers to disclose information related to chemicals contained in certain cleaning products on the product label and online....

New York Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program

Aug 20, 2019
New York State has launched a new initiative to require the public disclosure of chemical ingredients in household cleaning ...

Weights and Measures

Aug 20, 2019
We promote honesty and equity in the marketplace for both consumers and the business community. As such, we work closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) to ensure that the standards ...

State-by-State Monthly SNAP Benefit Issuance Schedules

Jun 14, 2019
This resource provides a state-by-state monthly analysis of SNAP benefit issuance schedules....

Government Shutdown Resources

Feb 7, 2019
As a result of the partial government shutdown, states distributed all February SNAP benefits before Sunday, January 20th. Now, due to the early issuance for February, some states may be changing their March issuance schedule from their normal ...

Sugar and Sweetened Beverage Legislation

Feb 1, 2019
States and localities are looking to the taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages and snack foods to generate income and change purchase behavior. Several localities have enacted such legislation, and those communities that have are now suffering job ...

Beverage Tax Toolkit

Jan 18, 2019
Check this page for advocacy and outreach materials, including sample testimony, talking points and impact data....

UPDATES: 2018 Hurricanes and Other Natural Disasters

Sep 12, 2018
We will continue to update this page and provide additional links as we receive them from state and federal government agencies and others responding to hurricanes and natural disasters. Please do not hesitate to reach out directly to FMI if we can ...

State Alcohol Laws

Oct 1, 2017
All states now fall under either the “control” or “open” monikers when it comes to alcohol regulation. Our State Affairs Team continue to track and report on alcohol sales in each ...

SNAP Distribution Expansion

Jun 14, 2017
Currently, eight states issue SNAP benefits on only one day, and others, on just three days. This creates a bottleneck for SNAP recipients and customers, as grocery lines become frustratingly long, on that one day....

Drug Testing and SNAP

Feb 22, 2017
Our State Affairs Team created a resource documenting the ability of a state to enact legislation that requires the drug testing of SNAP ...

State Laws and Regulations on Food Product Dating

Feb 1, 2017
This document is part of an ongoing effort to compile the various state laws and regulations on product dating[1]. With state legislatures growing increasingly active on a year-round basis, such an effort can never be dubbed truly “complete.” This ...

Item and Unit Pricing

Jan 11, 2017
With the almost universal installation of scanners, the need to individually price mark each item in a supermarket (item pricing) no longer exists for checkout purposes. Seven states still require some level of item pricing. They are Arizona, ...

GMO Labeling - State Law Fact Sheet

Jan 1, 2017
From November 2012, our State Affairs Team has been documenting the legislation pertaining to GMO Labeling....

Chart of WIC - Approved Foods

Nov 1, 2015
We compiled a list of WIC-Approved Foods including corporate and private label products in each state....

Gift Card Legislation

Jul 1, 2012
In June 2012, New Jersey Governor Christie signed gift card legislation (A. 3045/S.1928) into law, as a result of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and negotiations by New Jersey retailers. Key provisions of the bill ...