March 30, 2017

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!

UPDATE ON CREDIT CARD FEE BATTLE, FEDERALLY AND LOCALLY
NO GAS TAX INCREASE ON APRIL 1^ST
REMINDERS: NJGCA VISIT TO UNIFIRST ON APRIL 5^TH, NJGCA ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE MEETING ON APRIL 12^TH
 

I’d like to first say “THANK YOU” to all who used our VoterVoice system to contact your member of Congress, urging them to oppose the elimination of the Durbin Amendment, which has lowered the cost of debit card fees since 2010.  In related news, the issue of credit card fees is back on the table again and back in the news. You may remember that several years ago a $6 billion settlement was agreed to by plaintiffs’ attorneys in a price fixing case against Visa and MasterCard. The plaintiffs in this case are merchants (you) throughout the nation. The problem is that the settlement amounts to a mere pittance in terms of the dollars that each merchant would have received in exchange for dropping the lawsuit and agreeing to never sue Visa and MasterCard again, thereby allowing them to continue price fixing and charging excessive fees without competition.
 
Many of you wrote to me asking if you should accept the settlement and the advice that I gave to NJGCA members was to reject the settlement! The attorneys in this case did not act upon the wishes of you, the merchants, and agreed to settle the case anyway. The attorneys were poised to receive 1/3 of the entire settlement for their fees, while each retailer would receive merely a few hundred bucks and give up their rights to any further or additional legal recourse. Most important, Visa and MasterCard would simply continue their bad practices without fear of ever being challenged by you again.
 
Merchants who disagreed with the settlement then petitioned the court to block the settlement from moving forward, and an Appeals Court sided with those merchants, finding that the lawsuit could still move forward and the settlement would be null and void!! Visa and MasterCard then took the case to the Supreme Court, trying to override the merchants’ appeal and reinstate the settlement. Merchants won another victory this week when the Supreme Court refused to hear Visa and MasterCard’s case, threw out the settlement, and allowed the Appellate Court’s decision to stand.  What does that mean to you? It means that Visa and MasterCard still have to defend themselves against allegations of price-fixing and non-competitive practices.
 
This all brings me back to the efforts currently underway in New Jersey. In 2013, when the settlement was first announced, New Jersey lawmakers were up in arms because the settlement allowed merchants (small business owners) to add credit card fees to the sale of their merchandise.  You all know that you are currently not permitted to add credit card fees to your customers’ purchases, but that’s not because of any law, it’s because the agreements that you sign with each credit card company prohibit you from doing so.
 
Within a week of the settlement’s announcement, legislation was introduced in both the Senate and the Assembly to block retailers from passing on credit card fees to the consumer. Of course, we all screamed and yelled because none of you would do that in the first place… competition would not permit it! Your customers would leave you if you did.  In the course of that debate, we came to the conclusion that the true fix to the issue in NJ would be legislation that would force credit card companies to compete in NJ the same way the Durbin Amendment forced banks who issue debit cards to compete with their fees.  In the past three years, we’ve gathered a lot of support amongst legislators who have agreed to sponsor our legislation. We’ve worked tirelessly alongside the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey to lead this fight and form a coalition of many other small business organizations.
 
Presently we’re waiting for our legislation to be heard in the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee. We remain hopeful that this will happen soon. This is a critical fight in Washington right now and I hope to make it just as important in New Jersey!
 
FYI regarding the gas tax, many of you have asked if there will be any increase on April 1^st, as the gas tax law that was passed last year prescribes quarterly adjustments. Due to the conversations that I have had with various state officials, I have maintained confidence all along that these adjustments won’t happen. Well, today is March 30^th and as of now, the mechanism to determine any increase in the tax has not even been put into place yet. There will be no tax increase on April 1^st.

Finally, two reminders:

1. NJGCA will be visiting UniFirst’s processing plant in Whippany on Wednesday to tour their facility, learn more about their operations, and have lunch. Any NJGCA members who are current UniFirst customers or who are interested in learning more about UniFirst are welcome to join. For more info or to let us know you’d like to join, call Debbie at 732-256-9646 or send an email to: debbie@njgca.org
2. NJGCA is hosting our Environmental Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 12 at 10 AM at our offices in Wall Township. If you are interested in attending and finding out how you can be more involved in the formation of environmental regulations, please contact Debbie at 732-256-9646 or debbie@njgca.org. YOU MUST RSVP, you cannot just show up! Of course, all are welcome to attend, but the number of people we expect to have will determine the size of the room that we use for the meeting. Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to the creation of this very informative and beneficial Committee.

TRAINING CLASSES!!

All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

 CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions

Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. 

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum kW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require 12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s  service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs.  Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. 

Contact GREG CANNON at 732-256-9646 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.