News

Ariz. Senate passes bill allowing employers to charge for check cashing

March 17, 2003

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- The Arizona Senate on March 17 approved a bill allowing temporary labor companies to charge their workers up to $2 for check-cashing services.

(See related story Arizona lawmakers debating check-cashing fees, assessed at ATMs or elsewhere)

After passing by a 22-to-8 margin, Senate Bill 1289 now moves to the state House of Representatives, according to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal.

Advocates of the bill, including Senate Commerce Committee Chair Barbara Leff and House Commerce and Military Affairs Chair Phil Hanson, contend the $2 fee is far less than what is charged by check-cashing establishments.

Opponents include some Democrats and moderate Republicans as well as the state Attorney General's office, according to the Business Journal.

Under then-attorney general Janet Napolitano, the state in 2002 filed suit against Tacoma, Wash.-based temporary firm Labor Ready, Inc. for providing ATMs in its Arizona offices that cashed workers' checks for a small fee.

Napolitano contended that the ATMs violates a 2000 state law that bans charging workers for check cashing. Labor Ready countered that the workers were not required to use the ATMs.

The suit still is pending, and some opponents of the bill want to wait until the legal issue is resolved.