Better living through better policy.

Category: Life

American Banker: Death by a thousand caps—State laws could kill credit card rewards

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date March 29, 2025
No Comments on American Banker: Death by a thousand caps—State laws could kill credit card rewards

A group of states are pursuing similar efforts to cap credit card interchange fees, endangering rewards programs that customers value, and raising concerns about an illegal interstate compact.

Tags Credit Card Rewards Programs, Credit Cards, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Interchange Fees, MasterCard, Price Controls, Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Swipe Fees, Transactions, Visa

Colorado Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

Colorado’s House Bill 1282 Swipe Fee Legislation: A Price Control by Another Name

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date March 24, 2025
No Comments on Colorado’s House Bill 1282 Swipe Fee Legislation: A Price Control by Another Name

Colorado’s interchange swipe fee cap will ultimately harm small businesses, drive up banking costs, and gut credit card rewards.

Tags Competition, Credit, Credit Card, Credit Card Rewards Programs, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Interchange Fees, Swipe Fees, Taxes

Alaska Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance New Mexico Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Technology Testimony Top Issues Updates

Fighting Back Against Rate Caps in Alaska: SPPI’s Testimony on Senate Bill 39

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date March 24, 2025
No Comments on Fighting Back Against Rate Caps in Alaska: SPPI’s Testimony on Senate Bill 39

Last week, I had the opportunity to testify before the Alaska Senate Finance Committee on the dangers of Senate Bill 39, a proposal to impose a 36% APR cap on consumer credit. Additional testimony was submitted to the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee before the bill was advanced to the Senate Finance Committee. This legislation […]

Tags Bank of America, Banking, Credit, Credit Score, Credit Unions, Lending, No Loan For You!, Short Term Loans, Small Dollar Loans, U.S. Bank, Unbanked, Underbanked, Wells Fargo

Alaska Budget and Spending Coal, Oil, Natural Gas Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Energy & Environment Energy Economics Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Government Regulation Government Spending Life Markets and Finance New Mexico Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Taxes Top Issues Updates Welfare

National Review: Share, Baby, Share; How a Permanent Oil and Gas Fund Dividend Could Empower New Mexicans

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date March 7, 2025
1 Comment on National Review: Share, Baby, Share; How a Permanent Oil and Gas Fund Dividend Could Empower New Mexicans

And benefit the nation, too.

Tags Alaska, Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, Drill Baby Drill, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), New Mexico Permanent Fund Dividend (NMPFD), Oil and Gas, Permanent Fund Dividend, Sovereign Wealth Funds

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance New Mexico Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

Backdoor Price Control: New Mexico’s HB476 Interchange Fee Cap Scheme

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date February 28, 2025
4 Comments on Backdoor Price Control: New Mexico’s HB476 Interchange Fee Cap Scheme

New Mexico’s HB 476 stealthily caps interchange fees by targeting sales tax, bypassing federal oversight while shifting costs to consumers and small businesses.

Tags Banking, Consumerism, Credit, Credit Cards, Debt, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Interchange Fees, Rewards

Arizona Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

Arizona End-Run: How HB 2629 Sneaks in a Credit Card Interchange Fee Cap

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date February 28, 2025
4 Comments on Arizona End-Run: How HB 2629 Sneaks in a Credit Card Interchange Fee Cap

Price Controls Arizona Credit Card Interchange Fees

Arizona’s HB 2629 stealthily caps interchange fees by targeting sales tax, bypassing federal oversight while shifting costs to consumers and small businesses.

Tags Banking, Consumerism, Credit, Credit Cards, Debt, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Durbin Amendment, Interchange Fees, Rewards, Spending

Conservatism Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty & Welfare Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion Top Issues Updates

RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

Post author By Patrick M. Brenner
Post date February 12, 2025
No Comments on RealClearMarkets: The Real World Intrudes On Sanders and Hawley’s Rate Cap

A national credit card rate cap may seem consumer-friendly, but history and state-level experiments shows it shrinks credit access and pushes borrowers toward costlier alternatives.

Tags Bernie Sanders, Borrowing, Credit Cards, Donald J. Trump, Lending, Rate Cap

Conservatism Courts Crime and Justice Culture Domestic Policy Economic Opportunity Economy Government Regulation Government Spending Legal and Judicial Life Markets and Finance Political Thought Poverty and Inequality Progressivism Public Opinion The Constitution Top Issues Updates

Elon Musk Declares CFPB’s Demise, Validating SPPI’s Efforts

Post author By Southwest Public Policy Institute
Post date February 7, 2025
No Comments on Elon Musk Declares CFPB’s Demise, Validating SPPI’s Efforts

Musk’s declaration marks a defining victory for the Southwest Public Policy Institute, affirming our relentless efforts to expose and dismantle the CFPB.