SACRAMENTO - California State Sen. Jenny Oropeza introduced a bill in the state to stop merchants from charging consumers fees for using debit cards, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The state Senate passed the bill in July and the full Assembly will be considering it shortly.

"More and more people are turning toward debit cards - they now account for more than half of retail transactions nationwide," said Brendan Hughes, a staff consultant for Oropeza. "If you can??t charge something on a credit card, then the purchase price of paying with a debit card is higher than credit. ... This is affecting the most susceptible of Californians, and we need to protect them."

Some consumer groups and Visa support the measure, but small businesses and business associations oppose it because of the potential to harm consumers and retailers.

"If customers don??t pay the fee, that is going to put us out of business, or I will have to fire a couple more of my employees and work 24 hours a day," said Majid Ghanadan, who owns an Arco station. Not allowing merchants to pass along the debit card fees "would mean I would have to pay an extra $45,000 a year."

"Our primary concern is that especially with petroleum products, the margins are already very slim," said Jay McKeeman, a vice president with the Independent Oil Marketers Association. "On the sale of a gallon of gas, after the government takes their slice, then you account for permitting and property and employment costs, a retailer is making six to 10 cents a gallon on a good day. On a typical fill-up, Visa or MasterCard can be eating up four to five cents a gallon."

Read more on credit and debit card fees.