With a vote in the House of 237-192, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 has one last hurdle to clear before becoming law- garnering sixty votes in the Senate.
The House voted this week to pass the final conference report (here€™s the vote breakdown), notably with a stronger vote than they did the first time. Billed as the biggest overhaul to our financial system since the Great Depression this legislation includes the swipe fee reform retailers have been fighting for over the past ten years.
There are six Senators who have yet to make up their mind- and you have until the week of July 12th to help them see how important this reform is for your business.
- Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
- Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Scott Brown (R-MA)
- Charles Grassley (R-IA)
- Richard Lugar (R-IN)
- Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
All of these Senators voted for the Durbin interchange amendment. Click here to let them know they need to see it through with a final yes vote.
NACS Staff Contact: Lyle Beckwith, lbeckwith@nacsonline.com
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products will host the first of five live retailer training sessions on federal tobacco regulations in Boston, MA on Monday, July 19 from 1-5 p.m.
The remaining four retailer training sessions will be held this summer in Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. Dates, times, and locations will be posted on our website as soon as available.
Discussion topics include:
- Who is subject to the regulation
- What tobacco products are regulated
- Prohibition of sale and distribution of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to persons younger than 18 years of age
- Self service displays and vending machines
- Minimum cigarette and smokeless tobacco package sizes
- Prohibition of free samples of cigarettes
- Coupons
- Sponsorships
- Non-tobacco gift or items
- Flavored cigarettes
- "Light, Low and Mild" cigarettes
For more information and to register, visit the FDA Web site.
NACS Staff Contact: Lyle Beckwith, lbeckwith@nacsonline.com
As a part of a coalition of businesses in agriculture, trucking, and petroleum looking to increase transparency in the commodities futures market, NACS asks Congress to vote yes on the financial services reform bill.
The coalition notes that the law would "make several very positive changes to commodities oversight laws, including requiring all clearable speculative contracts to trade on exchanges and clear through centralized clearinghouses. It includes an appropriately narrow exemption for legitimate end-users of commodity derivatives, greatly strengthening traders€™ and exchanges€™ record keeping and reporting requirements."
To view the letter in its entirety click here.
NACS Staff Contact: John Eichberger, jeichberger@nacsonline.com
While the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominees are always full of posturing by both Senators and nominees, one question from Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) that seemed easy enough went unanswered by Elena Kagan. Senator Coburn poses the possibility of Congress passing a law that tells Americans they have to eat a certain amount of fruits and vegetables a day- he asks would that be Constitutional? Kagan acknowledges that would be a dumb law but essentially concludes that there might be instances where the Court could uphold such a law. That€™s a slippery slope to say the least.
Check out the video.
NACS Staff Contact: Julie Fields, jfields@nacsonline.com