Washington Report: Swipe Fee Reform Coming Down to the Wire

Also, Murkowski Resolution to Block EPA Fails and NACS Supports Efforts to Keep Rest Stops Public

June 11, 2010

Swipe Fee Relief Will Depend on Grassroots Turnout
The official conference to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate financial services reform legislation began yesterday. The number two most contentious issue in the debate is swipe fee reform. Bankers swarmed the Hill this week and have kicked their grassroots efforts into high gear. The only way retailers will get the reform we have fought for over the last five years is to hold members of Congress accountable.

The conference will be televised on CSPAN from 9 am EST through 9 pm EST Tuesdays throughThursdays for the next two weeks. However, the agreements on contentious issues like interchange are being decided now €" pressure from all sides will make the difference when interchange officially comes up.

Below is a list of the House and Senate Conferees and their Washington, D.C. phone numbers. Please contact them as much as you can €" you cannot make too many calls or send too many emails.

To send an email to any member of Congress visit: www.nacsonline.com/grassroots Enter the address of your individual stores as your "mobilization address" to reach those specific representatives.

The message is simple: Keep the Durbin Swipe Fee Reform Amendment €" without change €" in the Financial Services Reform Bill.

HOUSE

STATE

DC PHONE NUMBER

Bachus

AL

202-225-4921

Berman

CA

202-225-4695

Issa

CA

202-225-3906

Royce

CA

202-225-4111

Waters

CA

202-225-2201

Waxman

CA

202-225-3976

Boswell

IA

202-225-3806

Biggert

IL

202-225-3515

Gutierrez

IL

202-225-8203

Rush

IL

202-225-4372

Moore

KS

202-225-2865

Frank

MA

202-225-5931

Cummings

MD

202-225-4741

Conyers

MI

202-225-5126

Peters

MI

202-225-5802

Peterson

MN

202-225-2165

Graves

MO

202-225-7041

Shuler

NC

202-225-6401

Watt

NC

202-225-1510

Garrett

NJ

202-225-4465

Maloney

NY

202-225-7944

Meeks

NY

202-225-3461

Towns

NY

202-225-5936

Velazquez

NY

202-225-2361

Kilroy

OH

202-225-2015

Lucas

OK

202-225-5565

Kanjorski

PA

202-225-6511

Barton

TX

202-225-2002

Hensarling

TX

202-225-3484

Smith

TX

202-225-4236

Capito

WV

202-225-2711

SENATE

STATE

DC PHONE NUMBER

Shelby

AL

202-224-5744

Lincoln

AR

202-224-4843

Dodd

CT

202-224-2823

Chambliss

GA

202-224-3521

Harkin

IA

202-224-3254

Crapo

ID

202-224-6142

Gregg

NH

202-224-3324

Schumer

NY

202-224-6542

Reed

RI

202-224-4642

Johnson

SD

202-224-5842

Leahy

VT

202-224-4242

Corker

TN

202-224-3344

NACS Staff Contact: Lyle Beckwith, lbeckwith@nacsonline.com

Senator Murkowski Tries to Keep EPA from Overreaching its Authority
A resolution offered by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) concerning the EPA€™s authority to regulate greenhouse gases failed to garner the needed 50 votes. The official vote count was 47-53.

The resolution is viewed by the industry as finally putting the Senate on record when it comes to ceding authority to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the debate of how to regulate greenhouse gases. This measure was important to opponents of currently proposed climate change legislation because they feel that Congress should set the policy and not let the White House dictate through regulations how greenhouse gases are regulated.

Evidently Senate Democratic leaders promised their caucus that there would be another opportunity to vote on a less restrictive measure to direct EPA€™s authority.

Click here to view NACS letter in support of Sen. Murkowski€™s resolution.

NACS Staff Contact: Corey Fitze, cfitze@nacsonline.com

NACS Signs Letter Objecting to Commercialization Attempts
Responding to Arizona€™s call to "reform" highway rest areas, NACS joined the Partnership to Save Highway Communities to warn Governor Jan Brewer that adding fuel, food and other retail services to the interstate right-of-way will radically alter the competitive landscape, devastating nearby businesses and communities by granting the state direct access to highway motorists.

"As a coalition of business owners who rely upon interstate highway traffic, we strongly oppose rest area commercialization, as it would enable state governments and their hand-picked vendors to unfairly compete with private businesses located at interstate highway exits," the coalition said in a letter to Brewer on June 10. "At a time when our economy is slowly emerging from the depths of a crippling recession, permitting such unfair competition will endanger any economic recovery and will result in a loss of thousands of jobs in Arizona €¦seeking the opportunity to engage in direct competition with private businesses is not solution to these budgetary problems."

The Coalition to Save Highway Communities encouraged Brewer to seek alternative solutions to solving any budgetary crisis caused by the recession, including innovative ideas that allow the state to partner with businesses to help meet the safety needs of the travelling public without threatening the livelihood of thousands of people.

"In these challenging times, we hope that you will seek to work with our coalition to develop long-term approaches to ensuring the safety of the traveling public and the economic viability of our businesses. Such solutions will benefit everyone and will lead to future growth for Arizona€™s economy," the letter concludes.

To read the full letter click here.

NACS Staff Contact: John Eichberger, jeichberger@nacsonline.com

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement