[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 883 Introduced in House (IH)]







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) 
 introduced 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 Representatives 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''.

SEC. 2. SIMPLIFYING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS TO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 4 of the Truth in Lending 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 GOVERNMENTAL 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 credit 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 governmental 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 
imposed 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 by means of a credit card may be imposed 
by a governmental 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 entities.
    ``(d) Disclosure Required.--
            ``(1) In general.--Before the imposition of a fee by a 
        governmental entity for acceptance of payment 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 Settling 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 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.''.
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