The news the debit industry has been waiting for, a potential vote on the Senate Durbin delay bill, was published today. Now the question will be whether or not Senator Tester has the 60 votes needed to bypass a filibuster and if the amendment can get attached to a bill that will get passed.
Several sources told Credit Union Times that the amendment to delay the implementation by 15 months will be offered by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) during debate over a bill to fund the Economic Development Administration.
A spokeswoman for Tester, when asked about the timing and whether Tester had the votes to pass the amendment, wrote in an email that she didn’t have any updates.
We also called Senator Tester’s office in order to confirm this story, but have not heard back from them as of this writing. In the meantime, the winners in the short term are the advertisers, as both FI and merchant lobbying groups open their wallets wide to pay for advertisements that promote their side of the argument.