WASHINGTON – Here’s how Maine’s members of Congress were recorded on major roll call votes in the week ending Sept. 12.

HOUSE Consumer credit files

Voting 392 for and 30 against, the House on Sept. 10 renewed a 1996 law that sets uniform national rules for the handling of consumer credit information. The bill (HR 2622) seeks to prevent abuses in the way businesses including credit bureaus collect and distribute credit histories, financial records and medical information on individuals. It drew criticism for its pre-emption of stricter state laws for protecting the privacy of personal financial data. The bill is now before the Senate. In part, the bill gives consumers tools for fighting identify theft, expands access for examining and correcting one’s own credit report and bans the use of medical histories as a criterion for granting or withholding credit.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Rep. Tom Allen, D, voted yes. Rep. Michael Michaud, D, voted no.

Credit card rates

Voting 142 for and 272 against, the House on Sept. 10 refused to ban credit card firms from penalizing customers for late payments on unrelated obligations such as home mortgages or student loans. The amendment to HR 2622 sought to outlaw the ongoing practice of card firms using negative credit reports from elsewhere to abruptly raise rates on cardholders with exemplary payment records.

Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., asked: “How can interest rates double or triple when the individual has … made payments on time and never has gone over the credit card limit? Well, it happens because … companies like Chase Manhattan, Citigroup or Bank One, have decided all on their own that the consumer has become a greater financial risk” in light of late payments elsewhere.

A yes vote was to stop the practice.

Allen and Michaud voted no.

Free Cuba travel

The House on Sept. 9 voted, 227 for and 188 against, to allow U.S. citizens to travel freely to Cuba, just as they can to other countries. This would lift a 42-year-old ban that keeps citizens from visiting Cuba except with special permission from the U.S. government. The vote occurred during debate on a fiscal 2004 appropriations bill (HR 2989) that now awaits Senate action.

A yes vote backed free travel to Cuba.

Allen and Michaud voted yes.

SENATE

Overtime pay rules

Senators on Sept. 10 voted, 54 for and 45 against, to block proposed rules for overtime pay that are supported by business groups and opposed by labor unions. This killed an administration plan that would enable employers to change job definitions in a way that denies eligibility for overtime to hundreds of thousands or millions of higher-income employees. But it left unchanged another rule that would qualify an estimated 1.3 million low-income workers for overtime pay. The vote occurred during debate on a budget bill (HR 2660) now headed for conference with the House.

Carl Levin, D-Mich., said: “The Bush administration’s assault on middle-income white- and blue-collar workers continues with this latest proposal by the Department of Labor.”

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said the rules “are part of this administration’s broader agenda for long-lasting, long-term wage growth. These clearer, simpler regulations will increase the efficiency and productivity of American businesses.”

A yes vote was to retain overtime rules for higher-income employees.

Sen. Susan Collins, R, voted no. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R, voted yes.

Aid for college

The Senate on Sept. 10 voted, 51 for and 44 against, to preserve the existing Department of Education (DOE) formula for determining federal grants for higher education. Changes proposed by DOE would, at a minimum, disqualify 84,000 low-income students from Pell Grants totaling $270 million, according to debate. Because the formula is also used to calculate non-federal assistance, the ripple effect of the changes would be to cut education aid by billions of dollars. The vote occurred during debate on HR 2660 (above).

A yes vote was to block cuts in education aid.

Collins and Snowe voted yes.

Libraries, museums

Voting 47 for and 49 against, the Senate on Sept. 10 refused to increase funding in HR 2660 (above) for libraries and museums by $44.4 million, to nearly $287 million. In part, the add-on was for programs to upgrade libraries’ technology and provide literacy instruction as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

A yes vote backed a 19 percent increase for libraries and museums.

Collins and Snowe voted yes.

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