The Oklahoma House approved a plan Tuesday to eliminate price monitoring through the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
Rep. Jeff Coody successfully amended Senate Bill 493 to repeal Oklahoma’s weights and measures misrepresentation law. He said it’s obsolete for big retailers with automated systems
"With the advent of the big-box retailers — Lowe's, Home Depot, Walmart and you name it — everything is so electronic and so automated that those companies really don't even — they're not subject to this program," Coody said.
Coody said given that, the weights and measures statute puts an additional burden on small-town businesses.
"We have the consumer protection act that's already in place. We have the Better Business Bureau. Why should we be inundating our hometown mom-and-pop stores, small businesses that are already under duress from the big-box companies?" Coody said.
The bill previously gave an exemption just to sellers of building materials if they weren’t a "national home center."
The House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee passed the amended SB493 13–0.
