Date: 03/04/2015

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB15-1154

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment G). The motion p
Adopt amendment L.004 (Attachment H). The motion p
Adopt amendment L.005 (Attachment O). The motion p
Postpone House Bill 15-1154 indefinitely. The moti
Refer House Bill 15-1154, as amended, to the Commi		PASS
Pass Without Objection
Pass Without Objection
PASS
FAIL



04:04 PM -- HB15-1154

Representative Garnett, co-prime sponsor, introduced House Bill 15-1154. The bill prohibits the application of an interchange fee to the portion of the total amount of a credit or debit card sale that represents any state, local, or district sales taxes applicable to the sale. He distributed and discussed amendment L.003 (Attachment G). Amendment L.003 would change the bill to instead require the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), along with the Divisions of Financial Services and Banking and the Department of Revenue to conduct a interim study on interchange fees. Representative Garnett also clarified that the aim of the proposed study is to quantify the amount of interchange fees collected on taxes.

15HouseFin0304AttachG.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachG.pdf

Representative Becker, J., co-prime sponsor, spoke to House Bill 15-1154. He noted that the bill is intended as an economic development bill for small businesses in Colorado. He distributed amendment L.004 (Attachment H). He stated that L.004 tries to bring more stakeholders to the proposed study. He responded to a question regarding the proposed study and indicated that the concern is financial institutions are charging a fee on top of a tax.

15HouseFin0304AttachH.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachH.pdf

04:18 PM -- Mr. Scott Earl, representing Mountain West Credit Union Association, testified in opposition to the bill. He noted the proposed study goes beyond the scope of interchange fees. He stated the proposed study is biased against financial institutions because it does not include the associated costs financial institutions bear for merchants such as fraud protection.

04:28 PM -- Ms. Barbara Walker, representing the Independent Bankers of Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill. She noted that this bill may only apply to cards issued by Colorado-based financial institution. She also objected to the proposed study.

04:29 PM -- Mr. Allan Tormohlen, representing the Independent Bankers of Colorado and Cannon National Bank, testified in opposition to the bill. He noted that community banks are also small businesses and they use interchange fees to provide services to their customers.

04:41 PM -- Mr. Jim Reuter, representing FirstBank, testified in opposition to the bill. He noted that FirstBank is opposed to the bill as introduced or in the form of study. He discussed fraud prevention, the credit and debit card industry, and the industry's move to Europay, MasterCardŽ, and VisaŽ (EMV) technology.

05:01 PM -- Mr. Koger Propst, representing ANB Bank, testified in opposition to the bill. He noted that the industry is moving towards mobile payment systems and away from physical cards/EMV. He discussed the impact of the bill on the banking industry and its customers.

05:18 PM -- Ms. Jenifer Waller, representing the Colorado Bankers Association, testified in opposition of the bill. She noted the proposed study is not objective and seems biased against banks. She also questioned whether the departments involved in the proposed study have the right expertise to conduct the study.

05:26 PM -- Mr. Brian Tobias, Mr. Bruce Harrelson, and Acting State Bank Commissioner Ken Boldt, representing DORA, spoke to their concerns regarding the proposed study. Mr. Tobias spoke of the challenges associated with collecting the data required by the proposed study. They all noted that DORA has no way to compel the industry to provide them with information required by the proposed study. Commissioner Boldt noted his concerns about the time frame for conducting the proposed study which requires a report on over 350 interchange fees by October 2015.

05:39 PM -- Mr. Patrick Boyle, representing the Colorado Competitive Council, testified in opposition to the bill. He noted that the proposed study seems biased against financial institutions. He also expressed concern with the funding sources of the proposed study.

05:43 PM -- Mr. Loren Bawman, representing Jared's Nursery and GreenCo, testified in support of the bill. He distributed example interchange fee invoices (Attachments I, J, and K). He spoke to his experience with interchange fees.

15HouseFin0304AttachI.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachI.pdf 15HouseFin0304AttachJ.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachJ.pdf

15HouseFin0304AttachK.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachK.pdf

05:50 PM -- Mr. Scott Paulson, representing Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association (CWPMA) and SilCo Oil Co., testified in support of the bill. He distributed handouts to the committee (Attachment L and M). He discussed his experiences with interchange fees.

15HouseFin0304AttachL.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachL.pdf 15HouseFin0304AttachM.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachM.pdf

05:57 PM -- Ms. Mary Lou Chapman, representing the Rocky Mountain Food Industry Association, testified in support of the bill. She distributed a statement to the committee (Attachment N). She noted that her members would support moving forward with the proposed study.

15HouseFin0304AttachN.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachN.pdf

06:00 PM -- Mr. Grier Bailey, representing the CWPMA, testified in support of the bill. He discussed his members' experiences with interchange fees. He noted that CWPMA does not believe that profit should be made off of public tax systems.
BILL:HB15-1154
TIME: 06:05:32 PM
MOVED:Garnett
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.003 (Attachment G). The motion passed on a vote of 8-3.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Conti
No
Garnett
Yes
Kagan
Yes
Pabon
Yes
Priola
No
Roupe
No
Van Winkle
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Foote
Yes
Court
Yes
YES: 8 NO: 3 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:HB15-1154
TIME: 06:09:57 PM
MOVED:Kagan
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.004 (Attachment H). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Becker K.
Conti
Garnett
Kagan
Pabon
Priola
Roupe
Van Winkle
Wilson
Foote
Court
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:HB15-1154
TIME: 06:11:24 PM
MOVED:Wilson
MOTION:Adopt amendment L.005 (Attachment O). The motion passed without objection.
15HouseFin0304AttachO.pdf15HouseFin0304AttachO.pdf
SECONDED:Garnett
VOTE
Becker K.
Conti
Garnett
Kagan
Pabon
Priola
Roupe
Van Winkle
Wilson
Foote
Court
YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


Committee discussion on the merits of the amended bill ensued.

BILL:HB15-1154
TIME: 06:19:13 PM
MOVED:Garnett
MOTION:Refer House Bill 15-1154, as amended, to the Committee on the Whole. The motion failed on a vote of 2-9.
SECONDED:Court
VOTE
Becker K.
No
Conti
No
Garnett
Yes
Kagan
No
Pabon
No
Priola
No
Roupe
No
Van Winkle
No
Wilson
No
Foote
No
Court
Yes
YES: 2 NO: 9 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL


BILL:HB15-1154
TIME: 06:23:52 PM
MOVED:Pabon
MOTION:Postpone House Bill 15-1154 indefinitely. The motion passed on a vote of 10-1.
SECONDED:Conti
VOTE
Becker K.
Yes
Conti
Yes
Garnett
Yes
Kagan
Yes
Pabon
Yes
Priola
Yes
Roupe
Yes
Van Winkle
Yes
Wilson
Yes
Foote
Yes
Court
No
Final YES: 10 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS




06:35 PM

The committee adjourned.