The people who represent the region in the state Legislature face a character test in coming days. Do Assembly Laurie Davies, Marie Waldron, Brian Maienschein, Tasha Boerner, Chris Ward, Akilah Weber and David Alvarez and Senators Catherine Blakespear, Toni Atkins and Brian Jones believe that businesses should be honest with their customers?
On July 1, a much-needed state law takes effect that bans deceptive pricing that hides the true cost of services and goods. An odious trend in recent years has been for many businesses to charge more when it comes time to pay the bills than customers are initially led to expect. But when Attorney General Rob Bonta made clear that the new law applied to restaurants, lawmakers under pressure from labor groups rushed to legislation that would exempt restaurants so long as their menus had “clear and conspicuous” notices about their tacked-on fees.
This is ridiculous. Menu prices should be no different from those at any other businesses. Customers should be able to count on paying those prices, plus sales tax — AND NOTHING MORE.
The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board will let readers know which state lawmakers fail this character test — and we will hold it against those who do for the rest of time.
