New Bill Would Ban Service Fees in Restaurants

ST. PAUL (WJON News) - A bill introduced to the Minnesota House would crack down on businesses that don’t advertise the complete price of the goods or services before a customer gets their bill.

Minneapolis Representative Emma Greenman says she was moved to write the bill after getting a 4% fee on her bill at the Minneapolis airport and not knowing what the charge was for.

Get our free mobile app

Green suggests the fees are actually deceptive advertising because they are not introduced to the customer until after they’ve made the order.

The concept of adding mandatory fees, sometimes called “health and wellness fees”, became popular during the pandemic. Businesses used the additional fees to direct the money to areas like worker pay and benefits or used them to pay higher salaries during the pandemic.

Greenman says those direct costs should be baked into the total cost of a good or service, rather than adding them after the sale is made.

Her bill would add advertising a price for goods and services that does not include all mandatory fees and surcharges to the list of deceptive trade practices. Violation of the law results in a gross misdemeanor.

Read the text of the bill here. 

The bill was introduced on February 12th and was referred to the Commerce, Finance, and Policy Committee.

READ RELATED ARTICLES

• Menards Fined For Docking Worker Pay
• Local Colleges Among State's Most Expensive
• Xcel Retires Unit of Sherco Power Plant