Streamline State Grocery Store Regulation State regulation of food retailers should be streamlined to reduce government costs and administrative burdens on industry without decreasing consumer protection. Background Texas' regulation of retail business practices is an increasingly complex process. State regulations designed to protect consumers and resources and aid tax collection cover most retail transactions, but today these regulations have collided with growing efforts to cut government spending and red tape.
Grocery stores provide a particularly compelling example of the proliferation of state regulation.
While Texas has regulated some aspects of grocery store operations for more than half a century, the 1991 Legislature established the state's general licensing program for food retailers. All food retailers must be licensed by either TDH or a local health department and meet state food-safety inspection standards. This license, however, represents only a small part of the total regulatory burden on many grocery stores. Modern food retailers offer a dizzying array of products and services, from pharmaceuticals and alcoholic beverages to lottery tickets and video arcades, and consequently are regulated by an equally bewildering maze of state programs. Permits expire on different dates, require different forms, and involve different fees.