California
California businesses could take a profits hit with self-checkout elimination
President and founder of Nicholas Wealth Management David Nicholas says the U.S. consumer is ‘singlehandedly carrying the global economy on its back’ in spite of inflation on ‘Varney & Co.’
California businesses are at risk of taking another financial hit, according to industry experts. This time, it’s because of a proposed bill that’s aimed at eliminating self-checkout.
The goal of Senate Bill 1446 is to eliminate theft, which has been tied in part to self-checkout stations, but industry experts argue this bill could pile on significant costs for business owners.
According to a summary of the proposed legislation, if passed, grocery or retail drug establishments would be prohibited from providing a self-service checkout option for customers unless specified conditions are met.
Some of these conditions are that no more than two self-service checkout stations can be monitored by any one employee and the employee has to be relieved of all other duties,
CVS ENGAGING WITH AGS ON RETAIL THEFT; WORKING TO ‘DISMANTLE THESE CRIMINAL OPERATIONS’
NCR Voyix CEO and member of the National Retail Federation board of directors, David Wilkinson, says the bill will not only frustrate customers because it reduces choice, but it will “lead to higher operational costs that will be passed to consumers.”
NCR Voyix is a leading global provider of digital commerce solutions for the retail, restaurant and digital banking industries.
According to an economic analysis of SB 1446, conducted by Encina Advisors, LLC on behalf of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, businesses would need approximately 10,200 additional cashiers under the mandate. That would result in at least $497.1 million in additional costs falling upon grocery retailers annually, according to the findings, obtained by Fox Business.
A woman scans a product at a self-service checkout in a Rewe store. The supermarket chain Rewe will be relying even more heavily on self-service checkouts in future. (Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“While tackling retail theft is crucial, there are unintended consequences,” Wilkinson said.
DOLLAR GENERAL DROPS SELF-CHECKOUT AT HUNDREDS OF STORES TO REDUCE THEFT
Given that it insists on one employee for every two self-checkout stations, those employees are stuck at the machines instead of helping customers, he added.
He is also “concerned with the undertones of this bill that could potentially ask store associates to act as security guards,” Wilkson said.
Mature woman scanning groceries at self checkout line in Costco, Palm Beach, Florida. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Instead, Wilkson said stores need to “embrace tech to help solve the problem.”
GROCERY STORE CHAIN DITCHES SELF-CHECKOUT AFTER SHOPPER BACKLASH
“Fighting theft is a multi-faceted societal issue. It takes partnership with policy makers, businesses, and tech working together to curb crime which will ultimately help businesses,” he said.
Ryan Young, senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told FOX Business, that the best way to tackle the issue is through enforcing shoplifting laws.
“Self-checkout lanes can save on labor costs, but increased theft is one of the tradeoffs,” Young said. “Companies can decide for themselves whether that tradeoff is worth it. The answer will vary from business to business. They do not need California’s state Senate deciding for them.”
North Miami Beach, Florida, Walmart customer using Self Checkout. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Steven Greenhut, western region director of R Street Institute, doesn’t believe removing self checkout helps stores prevent theft at all. He argued that the “state and local governments could help by actually prosecuting people who steal stuff, but stores are perfectly capable of reducing their own shrinkage problem.”
However, a growing number of companies have been removing self-checkout aisles in recent months as a means to thwart theft.
Earlier this year, Dollar General began employing new measures to crack down on rampant retail theft that it says has been the most problematic problem for the business. Some of its measures included converting 12,000 stores away from self-checkout since the beginning of the fiscal year.
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In March, Target announced that it was limiting self-checkout to 10 items across stores nationwide.
That same month, Five Below announced it was reducing self-checkout at stores in an effort to prevent theft from cutting further into its bottom line.
The company has “now evolved” to associate-assisted checkout across its over 1,500 locations, CEO Joel Anderson said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
The California legislature is slated to reconvene on Aug. 5. The last day for each house to pass a bill is Aug. 31.
Redwood Valley, Calif. — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered 7 miles north of Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, north of Ukiah, and east of Highway 101. It had a depth of 5.0 miles.
A ShakeAlert notification went off on many people’s phones moments before the earthquake hit at 8:10 a.m., initially forecasted as a 6.1 magnitude quake by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and downgraded moments later.
People across Northern California felt the quake. Reports came in from as far away as Eureka, Redding, Sacramento, and the Bay Area. Most people reported light to moderate rolling and shaking.
Since the initial quake, several aftershocks have hit the same area. Three smaller quakes between 2.6-2.7 magnitude were detected in the same area between 8:17 a.m. and 9:06 a.m., and are expected to continue.
So far, there have not been any reports of major damage or injuries.
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California
DOJ charges 10 Southern California defendants in largest federal healthcare fraud crackdown in US history
Laura Ingraham: Fraudsters beware!
The Department of Justice announces the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, charging 455 defendants across 45 states. They allegedly stole $6.5 billion from Medicare and Medicaid through wound care schemes and other fraudulent claims. Some funds were used for luxury homes and vehicles like a $135,000 Maserati.
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Federal authorities on Tuesday charged 10 Southern California defendants in a series of healthcare fraud schemes, including one case involving nearly $270 million in fraudulent Medi-Cal claims and another that allegedly defrauded Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
The charges were part of the Justice Department’s broader “2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown,” which resulted in charges against 455 defendants nationwide in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as “the greatest combined federal and state effort in combating healthcare fraud in history.”
“Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Blanche said during a news conference announcing the initiative. “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference announcing what federal officials described as the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, resulting in charges against 455 defendants nationwide. (Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)
In the Central District of California, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against 10 defendants accused of defrauding government-funded healthcare programs or abusing their positions as medical professionals to illegally prescribe controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said five individuals were arrested in the greater Los Angeles area for allegedly participating in a scheme that involved submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs.
Among those charged was Christina Mareik, 61, also known as Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez, of Whittier.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
The Justice Department announced charges against 10 Southern California defendants in connection with multiple healthcare fraud schemes. (Department of Justice)
Prosecutors allege Mareik helped facilitate fraudulent prescriptions that generated nearly $270 million in claims to Medi-Cal, which ultimately paid out more than $178 million.
According to prosecutors, the claims involved expensive drugs containing low-cost generic ingredients that were either not medically necessary or were never provided to the purported recipients.
Authorities said Mareik also sent thousands of fraudulent prescriptions to a co-conspirator and caused the submission of fraudulent prescriptions under her own name.
LOS ANGELES HOSPICE FRAUD REACHES BILLIONS AS MEDICARE PROVIDERS SCAM FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH FAKE COMPANIES
Federal prosecutors allege Southern California defendants participated in schemes that defrauded Medicare and Medi-Cal of hundreds of millions of dollars. (Department of Justice)
Mareik was arrested June 17 and charged with healthcare fraud.
The charges also include a San Fernando Valley man accused of operating hospice care companies that fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $27 million, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also charged Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys; Abraham Shin, 66, of Corona; and Jeannie Choi, 57, of Torrance.
The three defendants face a 16-count indictment alleging they conspired to defraud Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
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The charges include conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft, monetary transactions involving criminally derived property exceeding $10,000, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
The IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic could deliver billions of dollars to California’s coffers.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2022, California recorded a nearly $100 billion surplus, saved just $10 billion in its rainy day fund and then spent the rest. Two years later, a $56 billion deficit loomed.
Now, with the state facing ongoing operating deficits of more than $10 billion, we’re back in familiar territory.
The coming IPO windfall is a rare second chance. But we’ll only benefit from it if we first fix the structural flaw that’s caused us to squander every previous boom — a budget reserve that isn’t built to hold what we put in it.
The stakes this time are higher than ever. The war in Iran raised recession risk, and the federal government is systematically dismantling the funding streams California has depended on for decades.
When Washington retreats, Sacramento has to choose: cut services, raise taxes or have enough saved to bridge the gap. Right now, we don’t have enough saved.
We’re not outside observers wringing our hands. We helped shape the fiscal architecture the state is now straining against, and we’re here to say: It needs to be rebuilt.
As California state controller, one of us campaigned alongside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass Proposition 58 in 2004 — creating California’s first Budget Stabilization Account. The other authored the Assembly Constitutional Amendment that became Proposition 2 in 2014 — the stronger, harder-to-raid replacement that voters approved with 69% support.
California’s tax system is the envy of progressive states and the nightmare of budget directors. We tax the wealthy at high rates, capture enormous capital gains revenue in boom years and then discover — every single time — that the peak doesn’t last.
If California treats the IPO windfall from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI as permanent revenue, our state would repeat exactly the mistake we made four years ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia have each proposed important reforms to strengthen the fund. First, they call for requiring the state to make deposits until the fund reaches 20% of the general fund total, rather than the current 10%. Second, they propose changing an arcane accounting rule that treats saving for future downturns as spending.
We see one additional opportunity to make the rainy day fund even stronger.
If we want a larger budget reserve, we have to do more than merely allow it — we need to require it. Proposition 58 taught us everything we need to know on this front: Between 2004 and 2014, with that proposition fund in place, only two deposits were made. If we want consistent deposits during the boom times, they can’t be optional.
These reforms should be a win-win for the California Legislature. A larger reserve is the most durable protection that public sector workers, social service recipients and education advocates have against the kind of emergency cuts that have repeatedly gutted programs during downturns.
It’s also the strongest argument against tax increases in a recession because you don’t need to raise taxes if you actually save during the booms.
Building a stronger rainy day fund isn’t the cautious choice. It’s the visionary one — the closest thing we have to investing in the next generation of Californians.
We built the last rainy day fund because we’d lived through the consequences of not having one. We’re making the same argument again, for the same reason except now the stakes are higher. This time, the federal backstop is weaker, and the next storm is closer than it looks.
Fix the fund this year. The next generation of Californians will thank us for it.
Mike Gatto served in the state Assembly between 2010 and 2016, and he authored the measure that created California’s current rainy day fund. Steve Westly served as state controller between 2003 and 2007, and he co-championed Proposition 58, California’s original rainy day fund. Westly chairs the 21st Century Alliance, a nonpartisan organization focused on solutions to the state’s most pressing challenges.
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