SALT LAKE CITY - Utah retailers blasted Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) for co-sponsoring a bill that would postpone caps on debit card fees for two years, the Desert News reports.

The Federal Reserve is proposing limits on fees that financial institutions can charge for debit transactions. However, some congressional leaders are now saying that would amount to price fixing.

"Price controls are almost always problematic," said Lee in a press release. "If the rule remains in place, retailers, banks and consumers will lose out in the long run through higher costs and limited choices. I believe we can form a better solution that does not unnecessarily burden small businesses and local financial institutions or pass fees on to the customer. The delay in implementing the rule will allow us to find options that benefit everyone."

That statement didn??t sit well with the Utah Retailer Merchants Association and Utah Food Industry Association and the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association. "It's a little disheartening, at the last minute, to try to put them on hold for two more years," said Dave Davis, president of the retailer??s association.

The two association, plus some from the food industry, placed a full-page advertisement in Salt Lake City daily newspapers asking for Lee to consider the state??s small businesses. The ad compares the bill to ""another big TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bailout."

"The legislation I cosponsored is not in any way related to TARP, nor does it bail out banks. It does, however, delay the creation of price controls, which are inherently anti-free market," said Lee in a prepared statement to the Desert News. "I am curious to know how the retailers would react if the Federal Reserve were to set prices on the products they sell. I imagine they would be asking me to delay and oppose the legislation, much the way I'm doing now."

Davis countered that the major credit card companies have created a monopoly. "There is no free market left. We have not had the capacity to negotiate with those folks. They simply put an agreement before our guys. They say, 'If you don't want to sign the agreement, fine. But you can't take Visa cards. You can't take MasterCards.??"

John Hill, executive director the Utah Petroleum Marketers and Retailers Association, put it this way: "The marketplace in this instance is the seven biggest banks versus consumers."

Davis said that by delaying this measure, large banks pocket $1 billion per month. "That??s money coming out of retailers' pockets and consumers' pockets," he said.

NACS is urging convenience store operators to send letters to lawmakers who have indicated their support of the Debit Interchange Study Fee Act in both the House and Senate.