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Bay Area Lawmaker Seeks Elimination of Paper Receipts

Publication: CBS SF Bay Area

Calling paper receipts a waste, a Bay Area lawmaker has introduced a measure that would require California businesses to issue receipts to consumers electronically.

Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) has introduced AB 161, also known as the “Skip the Slip” bill. If approved, the measure would require businesses to issue e-receipts by 2022, unless a customer specifically requests a hard copy. Electronic receipts would be issued by email or by text.

Ting unveiled his proposal at a news conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. A staffer wore a large receipt that detailed why the bill was needed.

“Most of us don’t need a physical receipt for every transaction. It doesn’t make sense to kill so many trees and produce 12 billion pounds of carbon emissions, the equivalent of one million cars on the road, to make something we don’t often need,” Ting said in a statement.