HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5013        FILED ON: 4/6/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Alan Silvia

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to anti-hoarding and return of bulk purchased items during the COVID-19 outbreak.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5013        FILED ON: 4/6/2020

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act relative to anti-hoarding and return of bulk purchased items during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to prohibit the return of bulk purchased items during a public health emergency, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.
 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 270 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 30. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Groceries and other household goods”, dairy products, meat and delicatessen products, produce products, seafood products, carbonated beverages, coffee and other beverages, snack foods, candy products, baked products, paper products, household cleaning and sanitization items, health and beauty products, frozen foods, pet foods and supplies and any other edible product not listed herein.

“Retail food store”, any retail establishment where groceries and other foodstuffs are regularly and customarily sold for off-premises consumption.

(b) No person or retail food store shall accept the bulk return of any groceries and other household goods purchased by a consumer during, and for 30 days following, a declared state of emergency resulting from a pandemic or other public health emergency. A retail food store may accept the bulk return of groceries and other household goods if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the groceries and other household goods are unsafe for use or otherwise defective. Any groceries and other household goods accepted for return pursuant to this section shall not be offered for resale. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the return of a single item of groceries and other household goods per visit to a retail food store.

(c) Any person or retail food store who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense and $1,000 for a third or subsequent offense.