Committee approves substitute creating wire‑transfer fee to fund education, hospitals and prosecution services; vote 11‑4

A substitute to House Bill 297 — a proposal to impose a fee on certain wire or cash transfer services — passed the committee on a roll‑call vote of 11 to 4 after extended debate and a request for recorded voting.

Representative Fidler, the sponsor, told the committee the bill targets certain nonbank cash transfer services (examples cited included Western Union and MoneyGram) and does not affect bank or credit‑card transactions or services such as PayPal and Venmo. He described the mechanics: the securities commission would collect the fee; the sponsor said “it then, collects 4% to half of that, 2%, goes to the department of education to be distributed among the number of ELL students in the county in which the wire transfer originated. Point 5% goes back to the county in which the wire transfer originated to be divided and distributed among the hospitals. 1.5% goes to the office of prosecution services, OPS, to be distributed throughout the sheriffs to help with the illegal immigration issues.” The sponsor also described a three‑year sunset and an oversight committee to review spending.

The sponsor and supporters said expected revenue would be “no less than $10,000,000.” Opponents — including Representative Drummond — raised concerns that the fee would push consumers to neighboring states or otherwise harm small businesses and asked that the matter receive a roll‑call vote because they characterized the charge as a tax.

A roll‑call vote was held. The clerk recorded the following votes: Representative Kiel — Yes; Representative Drummond — No; Representative Almond — Yes; Representative Baker — Yes; Representative Chestnut — Nay; Representative Collins — Yes; Representative Colvin — Yes; Representative Daniels — Nay; Representative Ellis — Yes; Representative Faulkner — Yes; Representative Lawrence — Nay; Representative Lovern — Yes; Representative Stubb — Yes; Representative Wood — Yes; Chairman Garrett — Yes. The clerk announced “11 members answering yay. 4 members answering nay. The motion carries.”

The committee’s approval was for the substitute as offered. Sponsors said the securities commission, Department of Education, county hospitals and Office of Prosecution Services would be involved in allocation and administration; the transcript includes specifics on percentages but did not include final implementing language or a full fiscal office breakdown beyond the sponsor’s estimate.