Swipe Fee Legislation
ABMA heard this week that the Senate Judiciary Committee will likely hold a hearing in February on legislation (S. 1838) that would address the current Visa-Mastercard duopoly in the credit card market. Specifically, the bill would address swipe fees averaging over 2% of the transactions that banks and card networks, like Visa and Mastercard, charge merchants to process credit card transactions. Credit and debit card swipe fees have doubled over the past decade, soaring by $22 billion in 2022 alone to a record $160.7 billion. The fees are most merchants’ highest operating cost after labor, driving up consumer prices by an estimated $1,024 a year. Swipe fees for credit cards alone totaled $126.4 billion in 2022, up 20 percent from 2021.
According to Senator Roger Marshall—the Republican lead on the legislation in the Senate—a decision on witnesses has not yet been made but will likely feature convenience stores. We will continue to monitor developments on this bill closely.
Independent Contractor Rule
The Department of Labor (DOL) released a rule on Wednesday that will force companies to reclassify potentially millions of workers as “employees” who are currently engaged as contractors. Specifically, the DOL rule will require that workers be considered employees rather than contractors when they are ‘economically dependent’ on a company,” The new rule—which is set to take effect March 11—replaces one established by the previous administration, which had a much broader definition of what constituted contract labor.
In determining a worker’s status, DOL will weigh six factors, including a worker’s opportunity for profit or loss, the degree of control wielded by a company over a worker and whether the work is an integral part of the company’s business.
Sectors like trucking that rely heavily on the independent contractor model will be particularly affected by this action. Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Association issued this media release in which he lambasted the action—
“I can think of nothing more un-American than for the government to extinguish the freedom of individuals to choose work arrangements that suit their needs and fulfill their ambitions. More than 350,000 truckers choose to work as independent contractors because of the economic opportunity it creates and the flexibility it provides, enabling them to run their own business and choose their own hours and routes. That freedom of choice has been an enormous source of empowerment for women, minorities, and immigrants pursuing the American Dream.
“The trucking industry has used independent contractors since the inception of interstate trucking, and court decisions over the last 90 years have continually reaffirmed the legitimate role ICs play in the economy. It’s unfortunate that the Administration has chosen to replace a clear and straightforward standard with a tangled mess that weakens our supply chain and undermines the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of truckers across the country.”
Chris Spear, CEO of the American Trucking Association
ATA has vowed to appeal to Congress to overturn the rule, but it is unclear what action Congress could actually take that would be timely and feasible. Again, ABMA will remain close to the action.
