The bill proposes the addition of a new chapter to Title 6 of the General Laws, focusing on "Grocery Stores." It introduces several findings that highlight the importance of grocery stores as community hubs, especially for the elderly, and raises concerns about the negative impacts of self-service checkouts. These impacts include social isolation, increased risk of theft and hacking, reduction in labor costs at the expense of customer service, and the devaluation of retail workers. The bill also notes that self-service checkouts disproportionately affect people of color, who are overrepresented in cashier positions.

The bill sets forth definitions for terms such as "grocery store," "groceries," "manual checkout station," "retail sale," and "self-service checkout." It imposes restrictions on grocery stores, limiting them to a maximum of eight self-service checkout stations and requiring at least one manual checkout station for each self-service station. Additionally, it mandates a 10% discount for consumers using self-service checkouts with ten or more items. The bill assigns enforcement authority to the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general, which will also establish rules and penalties for violations. Provisions are made for complaints by residents and protection against retaliation for employees and consumers. The bill includes a severability clause and would take effect upon passage.