Maybe you caught the full-page advertisements in your local newspaper that read, “Tell Senator Tester to stand with Montana consumers and merchants” or maybe the one that read, “Well, Senator Tester, Here’s your study” and maybe thought they should not start campaigning so early.

The local newspapers sure enjoy those full-page ads…

But these ads were not about Tester’s upcoming Senate campaign; they are about a bill Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) sponsored (S.575) that would study the impact of the swipe fee regulation and delay its implementation for two years.

Yep, another study from the Feds…

Some folks say the junior senator from Montana is just “carrying the water” for the big banks, but he does have some bipartisan support for his bill – as big banking touches many lives (not to mention campaigns) on Capitol Hill. His bill has 13 co-sponsors ranging from GOP Sen. Tom Coburn to Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka. Montana’s other senator, Max Baucus, is a co-sponsor.

Although this is not exactly about Tester’s campaign, it means big bucks from the banks to his campaign if he carries their water.

In the House, the bill is H.R.1081 which also has bipartisan support (42 Co-Sponsors) ranging from ultra-conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann to liberal Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I did not see Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg listed as a co-sponsor.

The problem the banking industry sees is an amendment (by Senator Richard Durbin, D-Ill.) that was passed last summer which would reduce the debit card fees (also called swipe or interchange fees) that banks can charge merchants each time a consumer uses a debit card. A lot of people thought it was a good deal at that time.

An editorial in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch kind of lays it out:

When big banks and members of Congress who do their bidding rail against the evils of Wall Street reform, this is one of the things banks rail about: How can lawmakers dare to say that they no longer can charge 44 cents for an electronic transaction that costs them four cents?

That’s right, how can they?

The Post-Dispatch Editorial Board also said,

Those transaction fees have become a huge cost of doing business for retail businesses, and the costs are being passed on to consumers. Banks, of course, cannot argue with a straight face that a bill that reduces their allowed transaction profit from 1,100 percent to 300 percent, as Mr. Durbin’s legislation does, would send them to the poor house. They’re arguing instead that allowing more competition in the swipe-fee industry somehow would damage smaller banks.

According the website, Unfair Credit Card Fees:

Senator Tester claims that he is concerned about small banks being hurt by the rules.  Senator Durbin took care of that concern last year.  The legislation states explicitly that banks with under $10 billion in assets will be exempted from the rates.   Further, Visa, Star, and five other networks have indicated they will support two-tiered pricing so that small banks get to charge more than big banks.

The website also had this statement, “This bill is just another Wall Street bailout,” said Pat Lewis, who owns thirteen convenience stores in Idaho. “The Tester bill is TARP 2, when the last thing we need is another handout to the big banks.”

The website also contends that delaying the implementation of the bill, which Tester’s legislation does, “will cost merchants and their customers $1 billion each month, and will cost our economy up to 95,000 much-needed jobs each year.”

So is Senator Jon Tester proposing a jobs-killing bill?  Time will tell. Time will tell…