I
#
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 883
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to simplify credit card payments to
governments.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 27, 1997
Mr. MORAN of Virginia (for himself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia,
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GEJDENSON, and Mr. SERRANO) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking
and Financial Services
A BILL
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to simplify credit card
payments to governments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Credit
Card Reform Act’’.
HR 883 IH1S
SEC. 2. SIMPLIFYING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS TO GOV-
ERNMENTAL ENTITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1666 et seq.) is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 172. ACCEPTANCE OF CREDIT CARDS BY GOVERN-
MENTAL ENTITIES.
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON LIMITING ABILITY TO IMPOSE
FEES.—An association in which membership, or from
which a license of any nature, is required as a condition
of entering into agreements with merchants to honor cred-
it cards issued by persons as members of the association
shall not require any member or licensee of the association
to prohibit or otherwise limit the ability of any govern-
mental entity to impose on the user of such a credit card
a fee for acceptance of payment by means of the credit
card.
‘‘(b) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FEES.—No fee for
acceptance of payment by means of a credit card may be
imposed by a governmental entity, if the amount of the
fee exceeds an amount that is reasonably calculated to
compensate the entity imposing the fee for any fees im-
posed on the entity by a third party in connection with
the processing or settlement of such payments.
‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS FOR WHICH FEE
MAY BE IMPOSED.—No fee for the acceptance of payment
HR 883 IH1S
by means of a credit card may be imposed by a govern-
mental entity, other than for acceptance of payment of—
‘‘(1) a tax;
‘‘(2) a fine or other criminal or civil penalty;
‘‘(3) a motor vehicle or other registration fee;
or
‘‘(4) a fee charged for the performance of any
function customarily provided by governmental enti-
ties.
‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE REQUIRED.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the imposition of a
fee by a governmental entity for acceptance of pay-
ment by means of a credit card, the governmental
entity imposing the fee shall disclose to the person
making the payment the amount of the fee or the
method by which it will be calculated.
‘‘(2) MEANS OF DISCLOSURE.—The disclosure
may be made by any means which the governmental
entity imposing the fee determines to be reasonable
in the circumstances, including orally.
‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON FEES FOR PROCESSING OR SET-
TLING PAYMENT BY CREDIT CARD.—A person shall not
impose a fee for the processing or settlement of a payment
to a governmental entity made by means of a credit card
that exceeds the amount of any fee the person imposes
HR 883 IH1S
for that processing or settlement of a payment to a person
that is not a governmental entity.
‘‘(f) GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY DEFINED.—In this
section, the term ‘governmental entity’ means—
‘‘(1) the United States Government; and
‘‘(2) any State or political subdivision of a
State.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for chapter 4 of the Truth in Lending Act is amended
by adding at the end the following new item:
‘‘172. Acceptance of credit cards by governmental entities.’’.
Æ