“Alarming that a U.S. Senator representing the Land Of Lincoln is seeking take his state back to Civil War era regulatory scheme”
DES MOINES, IA –– Machalagh Carr, Director of the Center for Legal Action (CLA) for the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree), today issued the following statement in response to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) filing an amicus brief in support of the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act (IFPA):
“It’s alarming that a Senator from the Land of Lincoln is seeking to take his state back to a Civil War era patchwork of banking. For more than 150 years, our country has benefited from the National Bank Act and its ensuing uniformity and stability. With his support of the IFPA, Senator Durbin is siding with the forces seeking to unwind this progress and damage his constituents and the economy in the process. No matter what Senator Durbin claims, the state law he is now supporting would supersede and override federal standards, including his own Durbin Amendment.”
Last month, CLA filed an amicus brief in the ongoing lawsuit against IFPA, outlining the “devastating damage” posed to the debit and credit payment system in the United States and the ensuing consumer harm in the form of increased costs and higher fees.
Read CLA’s amicus brief here.
Filed in August 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Of Illinois by the Illinois Bankers Association, American Bankers Association, America’s Credit Unions, and Illinois Credit Union League, the lawsuit accuses Illinois of interfering with the federal government’s exclusive regulatory authority over financial institutions. Signed by Governor JB Pritzker in June 2024, the IFPA is scheduled to take effect in July 2025.
AmFree is a trade organization representing American businesses of all sizes. It is dedicated to advancing the principles of free enterprise, free markets, limited government, and American leadership globally. AmFree Chamber is chaired by the Honorable Terry E. Branstad, who previously served as Ambassador to China and was the longest serving Governor in American history.
AmFree Chamber’s Center for Legal Action focuses on combatting administrative overregulation both through agency proceedings and in litigation and is chaired by two-time former U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr.
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