Press Releases
Will MAGA House Extremists Obstruct Popular ‘Junk Fee Prevention Act’?
Washington D.C. – The introduction of the ‘Junk Fee Prevention Act’ in Congress this week leaves the MAGA House majority faced with a simple choice: help save consumers billions of dollars every year — or protect the bottom line of their special interest donors that exploit junk fees. The legislation would rein in abusive and often-hidden fees and penalties, including excessive online ticket fees, airline family seating fees, exorbitant early termination fees, and surprise resort or destination fees. The bill is part of the Biden administration’s major crackdown on junk fees which has strong bipartisan public backing from 3 in 4 Americans.
For months, key House Republicans including House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry and his top lieutenant Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer have been aggressively defending the practice of junk fees, including Luetkemeyer’s out-of-touch claim they don’t exist at all. In reality, in the hotel industry alone, 34 percent of consumers in a 2018 poll said they had been hit with hidden resort fees, with many respondents stating these fees exceeded their travel budgets. Will Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has taken over $500,000 from the hotel industry, listen to consumers and bring the bill to the floor for a vote – or let it collect dust at the behest of his donors?
Junk fees that sap billions of dollars from the pockets of hard-working Americans are unsurprisingly defended by politicians that take money from industries enriched by the practice. Congress faces hard choices all the time, but giving Americans relief from needless and exorbitant fees is not one of them. Some members of the MAGA House majority are already making excuses for their big industry donors that nickel and dime everyday families and hold back the economy. They aren’t convincing anyone but themselves.”