[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4395 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4395
To prohibit retail businesses from refusing cash payments, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 9, 2021
Mr. Payne (for himself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Ms. Garcia of Texas,
Ms. Pressley, Mr. Gottheimer, Mrs. Beatty, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of
New York, Mrs. Axne, Mr. Stewart, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Meeks, Mr.
Kustoff, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Davidson, Ms. Wasserman Schultz,
Mr. Connolly, Mr. Rose, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Norcross, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez
of Texas, Mr. Posey, Mr. Pascrell, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Van Drew,
Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, and Mr. Carson) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit retail businesses from refusing cash payments, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Payment Choice Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that every consumer has the right to
use cash at retail businesses who accept in-person payments.
SEC. 3. RETAIL BUSINESSES PROHIBITED FROM REFUSING CASH PAYMENTS.
(a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 51 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5104. Retail businesses prohibited from refusing cash payments
``(a) In General.--Any person engaged in the business of selling or
offering goods or services at retail to the public who accepts in-
person payments at a physical location (including a person accepting
payments for telephone, mail, or internet-based transactions who is
accepting in-person payments at a physical location)--
``(1) shall accept cash as a form of payment for sales made
at such physical location in amounts less than $2,000; and
``(2) may not charge cash-paying customers a higher price
compared to the price charged to customers not paying with
cash.
``(b) Exceptions.--Subsection (a) shall not apply to a person if
the person--
``(1) is unable to accept cash because of--
``(A) a sale system failure that temporarily
prevents processing cash payments; or
``(B) temporarily having insufficient cash on hand
to make change; or
``(2) provides customers with a device that converts cash
into prepaid cards on the premises--
``(A) if--
``(i) there is no fee for the use of the
device;
``(ii) the device does not require a
minimum deposit of more than one dollar;
``(iii) any funds placed onto a prepaid
card using the device do not expire;
``(iv) the device allows customers to
redeem any unused balance for cash at any time;
``(v) the device does not collect any
personal identifying information from the
customer; and
``(vi) there is no fee to use the prepaid
card that the device produces; and
``(B) regardless of whether there is a limit to the
number of transactions on such cards.
``(c) Right To Not Accept Large Bills.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), for the
5-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this
section, this section does not require a person to accept cash
payments in $100 bills or any larger bill.
``(2) Rulemaking.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall issue a rule
on the date that is the end of the 5-year period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this section
with respect to any bills a person is not required to
accept.
``(B) Requirement.--When issuing a rule under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall require persons
to accept $1, $5, $10, $20 and $50 bills.
``(d) Enforcement.--
``(1) Preventative relief.--Whenever any person has
engaged, or there are reasonable grounds to believe that any
person is about to engage in any act or practice prohibited by
this section, a civil action for preventive relief, including
an application for a permanent or temporary injunction,
restraining order, or other order may be brought against such
person.
``(2) Civil penalties.--Any person who violates this
section shall--
``(A) be liable for actual damages;
``(B) be fined not more than $2,500 for a first
offense; and
``(C) be fined not more than $5,000 for a second or
subsequent offense.
``(3) Jurisdiction.--An action under this section may be
brought in any United States district court, or in any other
court of competent jurisdiction.
``(4) Intervention of attorney general.--Upon timely
application, a court may, in its discretion, permit the
Attorney General to intervene in a civil action brought under
this subsection, if the Attorney General certifies that the
action is of general public importance.
``(5) Authority to appoint court-paid attorney.--Upon
application by an individual and in such circumstances as the
court may determine just, the court may appoint an attorney for
such individual and may authorize the commencement of a civil
action under this subsection without the payment of fees,
costs, or security.
``(6) Attorney's fees.--In any action commenced pursuant to
this section, the court, in its discretion, may allow the
prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable
attorney's fee as part of the costs, and the United States
shall be liable for costs the same as a private person.
``(7) Requirements in certain states and local areas.--In
the case of an alleged act or practice prohibited by this
section which occurs in a State, or political subdivision of a
State, which has a State or local law prohibiting such act or
practice and establishing or authorizing a State or local
authority to grant or seek relief from such act or practice or
to institute criminal proceedings with respect thereto upon
receiving notice thereof, no civil action may be brought
hereunder before the expiration of 30 days after written notice
of such alleged act or practice has been given to the
appropriate State or local authority by registered mail or in
person, provided that the court may stay proceedings in such
civil action pending the termination of State or local
enforcement proceedings.
``(e) Greater Protection Under State Law.--This section shall not
preempt any law of a State, the District of Columbia, a Tribal
government, or a territory of the United States if the protections that
such law affords to consumers are greater than the protections provided
under this section.
``(f) Rulemaking.--The Secretary shall issue such rules as the
Secretary determines are necessary to implement this section and such
rules may prescribe additional exceptions to the application of the
requirements described in subsection (a).''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 51 of
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 5103 the following:
``5104. Retail businesses prohibited from refusing cash payments.''.
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