Months after Philadelphia and New Jersey passed laws requiring retailers to take cash, lawmakers in Congress are seeking to ban cashless stores across the country.
U.S. Reps. Donald Payne, D-N.J., and David Cicilline, D-R.I., introduced competing bills last week that would force brick-and-mortar retailers to accept cash. Both bills would exclude online transactions and those done over the phone, though the proposals differ over who would enforce such a law.
“The Payment Choice Act was informed by what’s going on in New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and elsewhere,” Payne said in a statement, referring to bills that have been introduced in other cities. “There is a movement underway across the country to ensure our increasingly technological world does not lock out low-income, minority, and immigrant populations. This bill is part of that movement. We have to ensure that technological convenience for some doesn’t mean economic hardship for others… The Morning Call
