AFRO Staff Writer
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s (D), on Feb. 17, testified before the Senate Finance Committee in support of the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act (Senate Bill 387 and House Bill 895).
The Protection from Predatory Pricing Act aims to increase transparency in grocery store pricing by banning “dynamic pricing” and the utilization of surveillance data to inform individualized pricing in grocery stores across the state.
“Dynamic pricing is a predatory practice that leaves consumers vulnerable to price manipulation,” said Elizabeth Bobo, legislative director of the Maryland State and D.C. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a labor council dedicated to advocating for the interests of working people. “No consumer should have to pay more for groceries because an algorithm has determined them to be different from other shoppers. With technology today, two people could be standing at the same shelf, but can be shown different prices, not because of discounts or cost differences, but because an algorithm has decided they should pay different prices.”…