On May 15, NACS Vice Chairman of Government Relations Tom Robinson (Robinson Oil Company, San Jose, California) will testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Task Force in a legislative hearing to consider H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act.
This is a fantastic opportunity for NACS to explain to Congress why this legislation will help convenience and petroleum retailers and can help tee up further action on the bill. In delivering our message, Tom will draw upon his years of experience working with and testifying before Congress to articulate the best arguments to support congressional approval of the legislation. In preparation for the hearing, you can help.
Your letters to Congress have made a difference and the more support we can generate between now and next Thursday will only bolster our cause and give Tom a stronger foundation from which to advocate. So, if you have not yet done so, please send a letter to your legislator and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. To see if your representative has signed on yet, below is a current list of cosponsors.
- Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 03/06/08
- Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) 03/06/08
- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) 03/06/08
- Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA) 03/06/08
- Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) 03/06/08
- Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) 03/06/08
- Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA) 03/06/08
- Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) 03/06/08
- Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) 03/06/08
- Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) 03/06/08
- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) 03/06/08
- Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) 03/06/08
- Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) 03/06/08
- Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) 03/06/08
- Rep. Chris Carney (D-PA) 03/12/08
- Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) 04/02/08
- Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) 04/03/08
- Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) 04/08/08
- Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) 04/09/08
- Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC) 04/10/08
- Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) 04/10/08
- Rep. Phil English (R-PA) 04/15/08
- Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN) 04/17/08
- Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) 04/22/08
- Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV) 04/22/08
- Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) 04/22/08
- Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA) 04/22/08
- Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) 04/29/08
- Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) 04/29/08
- Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI) 04/30/08
In addition, if your representative serves on the Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Task Force, please give them a call (Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121) and let them know how credit card fees are affecting your business. The more friendly faces there are on the Task Force, the more success we will have in delivering our message.
The following members are on the Task Force (cosponsors of the legislation are marked with an asterisk):
John Conyers (D-MI)*
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Rick Boucher (D-VA)
Ric Keller (R-FL)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)*
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)*
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)
Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Chris Cannon (R-UT)*
Stephen Cohen (D-TN)
Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Betty Sutton (D-OH)
Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Anthony Weiner (D-NY)*
Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Debbie Wasserman Shultz (D-FL)
Douglass Delivers at Gas Price Hearing
Earlier this week, former NACS Chairman Bill Douglass testified (Douglass Distributing, Sherman, Texas) before this same Antitrust Task Force about the impact of high retail gasoline prices on retailers. His testimony provided an excellent introduction to the interchange hearing next week. Bill described how rising inventory costs associated with increased wholesale prices, combined with declining margins exacerbated by high credit card fees, are destroying the liquidity in the market and forcing some retailers out of business.
“In fact, in the past four months, 10 of the dealers to whom I supply motor fuel have handed me the deeds to their business,” Douglass said. “They are so leveraged that the slim margins they make on their sales cannot service their financial obligations. This is a serious situation--retailers are being forced out of business because they are unable to pass through the increasing costs of inventory and operating expenses.”
He told the Task Force that Congress could do two things to provide relief to the market: 1) increase supplies of crude oil to help drive the speculative capitol out of the market and bring down prices; and 2) enact the Credit Card Fair Fee Act.
“The Credit Card Fair Fee Act is critical legislation that could help reduce the financial burden facing retailers and provide them with the opportunity to remain competitive in the market,” he explained. “Many more of my dealer customers would be able to cover their expenses if they were not forced to turn over more than half of their gross fuel margin dollars to the credit card companies.”
Fortunately, during a hearing marked by partisan rhetoric concerning production of natural resources on domestic lands, Bill’s comments on interchange rates did attract quite a bit of attention with several members of the Task Force asking him clarifying questions about the imposition of fees on his business. This bodes well for the level of interest Tom Robinson can anticipate for next week’s hearing.
I believe the one-two punch of Bill and Tom before the same committee in back-to-back hearings will be a lethal combination that will help us move H.R. 5546 closer to our goal of enactment.
Stage I Initial Compliance Form
As reported last week in NACS Daily, Initial Compliance Forms regarding the new Stage I vapor recovery requirements are due today. In that article, we provided a link to an early draft form issued by the Environmental Protection Agency but had not been able to locate a final form for retailers to complete.
We have finally located such a form. If you have not yet completed and filed your Initial Compliance Form, you can use this form to satisfy the requirement.
Bill to Fix Expiration Date Liability
Over in the Senate this week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced S. 2978 (The Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act). Schumer’s bill would clarify the definition of willful noncompliance contained in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) with respect to violations involving the printing of an expiration date on credit and debit card receipts. The bill has a House counterpart that is sponsored by Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), and has over 50 cosponsors as of May 2008. NACS is pushing for more cosponsors and for both the House and the Senate to move the bill forward quickly in the legislative process. We can use your help. Please send a letter and ask your senators and representative to cosponsor this important legislation.
Competing Energy Bills
As the weather heats up and gas prices rise, congressional leaders seek to outdo one another by proposing legislation to “fix the problem.” Most of the time, these “fixes” serve only to make the situation worse, but they provide the legislators with their ultimate goal – a pro-consumer sound bite.
This week, Senate leaders took turns introducing legislation. Below is a quick and dirty summary of their proposals, most of which are not new concepts just wrapped up in a new bow:
Democratic Proposal: “Consumer First Energy Act”
- Repeal $17 billion in tax incentives provided to oil and gas companies and reallocate those resources to price protection, renewable energy development and energy efficiency technology
- Impose a 25% windfall profits tax on the five largest integrate oil companies, exempting profits reinvested in renewable fuels, expanding capacity, or renewable electricity production.
- Suspend purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until oil recedes to $75 per barrel.
- Enact legislation to prevent price gouging (the proposal will include the honest retailer protections advocated by NACS last year).
- Prevent traders from routing crude oil transactions through off-shore markets (thereby evading speculative limits), establish reporting requirements, and impose a substantial margin requirement.
- Authorize the U.S. Attorney General to sue OPEC for violation of U.S. antitrust laws.
Republican Proposal: “American Energy Production Act”
- Authorizes exploration for and production of oil and natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf
- Authorizes exploration for and production for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- Streamlines the permit-approval process for the construction and expansion of refining infrastructure.
- Suspends purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for 180 days.
- Expands the definition of renewable biomass within the renewable fuels standard.
- Commissions research to determine distribution infrastructure needs and equipment compatibility issues associated with implementation of intermediate levels of renewable-petroleum blended fuels (i.e., E-20).
- Mandates use of specific volume of clean-coal derived liquid fuels.
- Accelerates authorization to harvest shale oil in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
- Repeals a provision in last year’s energy bill that prohibits use by federal fleets of certain types of fossil based fuels, such as oil from Canadian tar sands.
The future of either proposal is very much uncertain. The Republican proposal will not receive much attention from the Democratic majority, and it is uncertain if the Democratic proposal will secure the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. NACS will keep an eye on the debate; however, to make sure that retailer interests are taken into careful consideration.
That’s it from Washington. Until next week, have a great weekend.
John Eichberger
Vice President, Government Relations