Swipe Fee Reform
Important update: Late last night, the Senate sponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act filed the swipe fee reform bill as the Marshall-Durbin amendment to the GENIUS Act. The amendment would lower credit card swipe fees. The bill’s sponsors are pushing for it to get a vote this week, so please email or call your senators.
As lawmakers in DC debate swipe fee reform, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy David Grogan published an op-ed in today’s Albany Times Union explaining the importance of swipe fee reform for small businesses, especially independent bookstores.
Right to Read Legislation in New York
Associate Director of American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) Philomena Polefrone was in Albany yesterday for a lobby day supporting New York’s Open Shelves Act (S 1100), Freedom to Read Act (S 1099), and additional Assembly Bills supporting the freedom to read.
The lobby day was organized by Penguin Random House and featured parents, students, authors, illustrators, and representatives from Authors Against Book Bans, the American Library Association, EveryLibrary, Authors Guild, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and more. The effort was well-timed, with both acts passing a floor vote in the Senate at the end of the day. They will now go to the Assembly for consideration.
Last Night: PEN America Event Safety Webinar
Yesterday evening, Associate Director of ABFE Philomena Polefrone joined author Samira Ahmed, PEN America’s Digital Safety and Free Expression Consultant Yemile Bucay, and PEN America host beck haberstroh for “So You’re Hosting a Book Event…” safety webinar.
Thank you to the panelists and attendees for a great conversation. A recording of the webinar will be made available to ABA members in the coming weeks.
New Hampshire: HB 324 Must Be Vetoed
If it passes, HB 324 will increase the number of book bans in New Hampshire, which threatens the next generation of New Hampshire readers. Stand up for Granite State students by demanding Governor Ayote veto HB 324.