WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Bob Corker (R-TN) will sponsor a bill that would push back for two years the implementation of debit-card fee limits, Congressional Quarterly Today reports.

The provision, part of last year??s financial regulatory reform, would cap the amount banks could charge retailers for debit-card payments processing. The pair will also suggest studying interchange fees.

Corker "doesn??t believe the federal government should be telling private companies what they can charge for goods and services," said Laura Herzog, his spokeswoman. "We??re working with others to determine the best approach to address this issue."

Retailers cheered the provision to have the Federal Reserve issue regulations for "reasonable and proportional" debit card transaction fees. Tomorrow and Friday, NACS members will take to the Hill to talk about swipe fee reform and other issues. To support all of our efforts next week we need every retailer to send e-mails, letters and faxes to their member of Congress. Go to nacsonline.com/grassroots to send the "Support Swipe Fee Reform" letter to your representative.

Tester voted against the amendment last year, saying the limits would harm smaller community banks, even though the law allows financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets to be exempt. The Fed has until April 20 to propose rules for implementation of the rule.