Just weeks before the July 1 start of a statewide ban on so-called “hidden fees,” State Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) has proposed a new law to clarify how it applies to the restaurant industry. If passed, urgency measure Senate Bill 1524 would allow restaurants to continue to charge mandatory gratuities, service charges or other fees, so long as those fees are conspicuously displayed on restaurant menus.
“This will enable restaurants to continue to support increased pay equity and to make contributions to worker health care and other employee benefits,” said Matthew Sutton, senior vice president at the California Restaurant Association. was co-authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Assembly member Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and is supported by the California Restaurant Association and Unite Here labor union, according to a press statement.
Dodd is also behind California’s , which he co-authored with Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last year.
Starting July 1, it aims to eliminate “junk fees” — hidden costs imposed on customers that bring the amount of the amount of a bill higher than what was advertised. Concert ticket vendors, hotels and restaurants are among the intended industries. The goal of the legislation is simple, its authors say: The price people see should be the one they pay.
“Restaurant customers shouldn’t be surprised when they get their checks by a slew of extra charges they were not expecting,�.