1.1                             A resolution 
  1.2             memorializing the President and Congress to permit 
  1.3             states to regulate interest rates on credit cards 
  1.4             issued to their residents. 
  1.5      WHEREAS, Minnesota and other states have usury laws 
  1.6   intended to limit interest rates on loans made to their 
  1.7   residents; and 
  1.8      WHEREAS, United States Code, chapter 12, section 85, as 
  1.9   interpreted by the courts, provides that a state cannot limit 
  1.10  interest rates on credit cards issued to its residents by out of 
  1.11  state financial institutions and that interest rates need only 
  1.12  be legal under the laws of the state in which the financial 
  1.13  institution is located; and 
  1.14     WHEREAS, the practical effect of that federal statute is 
  1.15  that Minnesota residents have access to credit cards issued only 
  1.16  in states that permit higher credit card interest rates than 
  1.17  permitted under Minnesota law; and 
  1.18     WHEREAS, it would be of great value to protect Minnesota 
  1.19  residents from unconscionable interest rates, large debt 
  1.20  accumulations, and bankruptcies; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  1.21     BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  1.22  that Congress should speedily enact legislation to amend United 
  1.23  States Code, chapter 12, section 85, to permit states to 
  1.24  regulate credit card interest on cards issued to their residents 
  1.25  regardless of the state in which the issuing financial 
  2.1   institution is located. 
  2.2      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.3   State of Minnesota is directed to prepare certified copies of 
  2.4   this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.5   States, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate, 
  2.6   the Speaker and Clerk of the United States House of 
  2.7   Representatives, the chairman of the United States Senate 
  2.8   Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the chairman of 
  2.9   the United States House Committee on Banking and Financial 
  2.10  Services, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in 
  2.11  Congress.