Don't fuel up new laws for cash and charge gasoline purchases
A BP station in Brentwood displays difference prices for cash and credit purchases of gasoline (March 13, 2012). Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
There's an old saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. It's the same with legislators. They have the power to make laws, so doing so is their response to most every issue. But not every problem demands a new law -- for instance higher prices for gasoline bought with a credit card rather than cash.
A $1 difference, as some stations on Long Island are charging, is outrageous. But state legislators racing to regulate the spread should cool their engines. This is one the free market should be able to handle quite nicely.
Credit card customers riled by big price differences should vote with their dollars. Drive away and find a better deal. If enough motorists do that one simple thing, offending station operators will tire of seeing potential customers' taillights. They'll change their prices.
It's easy to see why lawmakers feel compelled to do something. Gas prices soaring toward a pocket-siphoning $5 a gallon pose a real hardship for many Long Islanders with few transportation alternatives. And when voters are hurting, they want elected officials to do something. Witness President Barack Obama's job approval ratings heading down as gas prices head up.
State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Mineola) was ahead of the curve. He sponsored a bill in January to outlaw charging more for gas bought with a credit card. Sen. Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) introduced a bill yesterday to limit the price difference to 5 percent. The idea is to make current law -- which allows cash discounts but bars credit card surcharges -- enforceable. Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) wants to require stations to display cash and credit prices at curbside if the difference is more than 10 cents a gallon. They should -- voluntarily.
Station owners pay card issuers a fee for each credit card transaction. That justifies a price differential. Otherwise cash customers would be forced to subsidize card users. So the usual 10 to 15 cents a gallon difference is warranted. A dollar is not.
But that doesn't mean there ought to be a law. What's next, outlawing that ubiquitous 0.9 cent tacked on to the per-gallon price?
