Jan 12 - State Rep. Lyons named 2011 Legislator of Year

LANSING — Lisa Posthumus Lyons, the state representative from West Michigan who sponsored and won passage of legislation providing landmark reform of the state’s costly item pricing law, was named “Legislator of the Year” for 2011 by the Michigan Retailers Association.

The first-term Republican lawmaker from Alto was recognized by the MRA Board of Directors for her “active support of the retail industry and sponsorship of the Shopping Reform and Modernization Act.”

The board also thanked and congratulated Rep. Lyons for her “tireless work in caucus, in committee and on the House floor to win passage of the bills.”

The reforms were signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder on March 29 and took effect on September 1, 2011.

“Rep. Lyons’ legislation was a historic victory for retailers and consumers in Michigan. It led the MRA board to begin a lawmaker of the year award and recognize Rep. Lyons as the first recipient,” said President and CEO James P. Hallan.

MRA had worked for more than 30 years to repeal or modernize the item pricing law, which was enacted in 1976 and took effect in 1978. In recent years, Michigan was the only state that still required retailers to put a price tag or sticker on virtually every product they sold.

A research paper by Anderson Economic Group of East Lansing put the annual cost of complying with the old law in the hundreds of millions of dollars and called it a “hidden tax” on retailers and consumers.

The old law had been adopted when checkout scanners were new and consumers were wary of the technology. But as consumers came to use and rely on modern technology in their daily lives, including the use of smart phones in their shopping, the law became a throwback to a less technologically savvy era.

The new law provides retailers with flexibility in communicating prices to shoppers while continuing important consumer protections. The changes encourage new business investment and jobs in Michigan, as well as an improved shopping experience for consumers.

---