Vermont Retail and Grocers Association urges swipe-fee reform, flags PFAS, workforce and theft concerns

Ed Fox, president of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association, told the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Jan. 31, 2025, that the trade group will press for swipe-fee reform, monitor data-privacy legislation and raise concerns about PFAS regulations, retail theft and workforce shortages affecting stores across the state.

The association’s introduction mattered to legislators because the group represents more than 300 member businesses statewide, from single-location community stores to regional supermarket chains, and said policy changes could have operational and financial effects on small retailers. "We are not just the voice of our organization and our members, but we are also the eyes and the ears," Fox said.

Fox said the association plans to pursue swipe-fee legislation modeled on a recently enacted Illinois law that would remove taxes and gratuities from the base used to calculate card-processing charges. "We would like a bill that removes the swipe fee from the taxes and from the gratuity," Fox said, and told the committee that parallel bills are expected in both the House and Senate. He acknowledged litigation in Illinois: "There is a lawsuit in Illinois over this... There is a temporary injunction right now, and that's because there's an interstate commerce clause question," he said, while noting that the injunction currently affects only federally chartered banks in that state.

Fox provided a short estimate of the local impact, saying Vermont retailers pay about $14,000,000 in swipe fees on the tax portion of transactions and said he would submit his calculations to the committee. He also described other legislative priorities the association will follow, including data-privacy proposals and PFAS regulation, and urged lawmakers to consider implementation costs for small businesses.

Committee members asked questions about membership size and services; Fox said the association offers advocacy, regulatory updates, benefit programs (for example, Delta Dental and a Transamerica 401(k) program) and member education, and that it represents businesses "in every county and most cities and towns throughout Vermont." He described workforce and housing pressures that make staffing difficult for some stores and offered an anecdote that a Montpelier Walgreens had reduced pharmacy hours when staffing shortages left positions unfilled.

Fox said the association is expanding member outreach with monthly Zoom legislative updates starting the first Monday of the next month and offered to return when bills are formally filed. "We would like to come back when we actually have bills and talk about it," he told the committee.