Lawmakers in four states and cities are pushing new rules that would force Walmart, Target, and other major retailers to staff more checkout lanes and limit what shoppers can buy at self-checkout, changes aimed at taking effect by 2027.
Rhode Island has already advanced a bill requiring stores to keep one staffed checkout lane open for every three self-checkout kiosks in use. Connecticut, Ohio, and New York City are moving their own versions through legislatures and city council, each with different staffing ratios, item caps, and product restrictions that would reshape how millions of Americans pay for groceries.
The push marks a bipartisan backlash against the rapid spread of unstaffed kiosks, machines that saved retailers labor costs but left shoppers navigating broken scanners, long waits, and theft-prevention hassles with no human cashier in sight. For retailers that have spent years replacing workers with touchscreens, the bills amount to a forced reversal.
Rhode Island Senate Bill 2342 lays down the most detailed requirements of the bunch. Stores must keep at least one staffed checkout lane open for every three self-checkout kiosks available. At least one self-checkout lane that fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law requiring accessibility for disabled customers, must stay open at all times.
The bill also mandates that workers assigned to monitor self-checkout areas must "be relieved of all other duties," as The Sun reported. That provision targets a common retailer practice: assigning one employee to babysit a bank of kiosks while also stocking shelves, answering questions, or handling returns.
Aldi faces a particular problem with that staffing rule. The discount grocer cross-trains its workers for multiple roles and relies on them to troubleshoot self-checkout issues while handling other tasks simultaneously. A dedicated-monitor requirement would force Aldi to hire additional staff or pull workers off other jobs.
Connecticut Senate Bill 438 would impose a stricter staffing ratio than Rhode Island's: one staffed checkout lane for every two self-checkout kiosks open in grocery stores. The bill would also bar stores from asking any single employee to monitor more than two self-checkout lanes for theft at one time.
On April 15, the Connecticut Senate voted for immediate transmittal of SB 438 to the state House of Representatives. The bill has not yet been passed or signed into law.
Ohio Senate Bill 415 goes further than staffing mandates. Introduced in the state Senate on April 1 and referred to the General Government committee on April 15, the bill targets retail food establishments and pharmacies with a package of restrictions.
Stores would need at least one staffed checkout lane open at all times. No single worker could oversee more than three self-checkout kiosks. Shoppers using unstaffed kiosks would be capped at 15 items per transaction.
And certain products would be banned from self-checkout entirely. Customers could not purchase alcohol, tobacco, or any item with a theft-deterrent device attached, those hard plastic tags and locked cases that already slow down the process, through a kiosk. They would have to go to a human cashier.
That combination of item limits and product restrictions would effectively turn self-checkout into an express lane for small, low-risk purchases. Anything that requires an age check or carries a theft risk goes to a staffed register.
New York City introduced its own version on March 10 under Introduction 0729-2026. The proposed ordinance would require one employee in self-checkout areas for every three kiosks open and cap shoppers at 15 items or fewer per kiosk transaction.
The measure was referred the same day to the city's Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection. No further action has been reported.
Across all four proposals, the pattern is consistent. Legislators want to force retailers to put human beings back into the checkout process, whether through mandatory staffing ratios, dedicated monitors, item caps, or outright product bans at kiosks.
Several questions remain unanswered. None of the bills, as described, spell out penalties for retailers that fail to comply. The specific sponsors of each bill have not been identified in public reporting. And the precise effective dates tying these measures to 2027 remain unclear for some of the proposals still working through committees.
But the direction is plain. Rhode Island has already moved its bill forward. Connecticut's Senate has voted to advance its version. Ohio and New York City have proposals in committee. If even half of these measures become law, chains like Walmart, Target, and Aldi will face a patchwork of state and local mandates dictating how many kiosks they can run and how many workers they must assign to watch them.
For years, major retailers replaced cashiers with machines and called it progress. Now state legislatures are calling it a staffing decision that someone besides the customer ought to pay for.