On May 15, 2008, NACS Vice Chairman of Government Relations Tom Robinson (Robinson Oil Corporation, San Jose, CA) testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Task Force in support of H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act.
Even more importantly the House Judiciary Committee approved H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act on July 16, 2008 by a vote of 19 to 16. This marked the first official step towards enactment of this critical legislation. Next the bill will hopefully be sent to the House floor for a vote.
In the Senate, S. 3086 was introduced on June 5 by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), launching another front in the battle. On June 17, NACS learned that Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) had joined Sen. Durbin in championing the legislation, giving us great momentum in that chamber.
The battle against the credit card companies is in full swing and the time is ripe for retailers to push the envelope with their legislators to increase support for the legislation. Please send letters to your representatives and senators urging them to cosponsor H.R. 5546 and S. 3086, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. The value these letters provide for our momentum on the Hill is immeasurable. It is imperative to tell your Representatives to request a vote on the House floor from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This is the important next step!
To date we have had over 5300 letters sent! This is a good start but we must continue reaching out to legislators to show strong industry support. Even if you have sent letters before, please keep sending them and encourage others in your company send them too!
The banks and credit card companies brought have not let up in their vigilance to kill this bill. Now more than ever, Congress needs to hear directly from you and your colleagues that you are fed up with the unfair practices of the credit card companies, and that you strongly believe the Credit Card Fair Fee Act is the best market-based solution to rein in the anticompetitive behavior of Visa and MasterCard.
Let us know what results you are seeing and if we can be of any assistance in your grassroots efforts.