Shaheen Joins Colleagues in Urging Trump Administration to Continue Issuing Paper Checks for Americans
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) joined Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME), as well as Representatives Chellie Pingree (D-ME-1) and Jared Golden (D-ME-2), in urging the U.S. Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to delay the implementation of an executive order requiring the federal government to eliminate paper checks. President Trump’s order requires the Treasury Department to stop issuing paper checks by September 30 for all payments across the federal government – including Social Security benefits, vendor payments, tax refunds and more.
The lawmakers wrote, in part: “Over 5 million households across the United States do not have a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union. These rates are particularly high among low-income households which cannot meet minimum balance requirements, as well as those who opt not to use these financial institutions due to trust or privacy concerns. As a result, these households are reliant on cash and paper checks. Overwhelmingly, older adults use cash and paper checks to conduct regular financial transactions. Hundreds of thousands of older and disabled adults frequently opt to receive government benefits, including earned benefits like Social Security, through paper checks. More than 120,000 veterans and survivors receive their disability compensation, survivor benefits, and other compensation through paper checks.”
They continued: “Further, rural Americans and those living on Tribal lands have geographic and digital infrastructure challenges that prevent them from using traditional and technology-based financial services. According to the Federal Communications Commission, 22.3 percent of Americans in rural areas and 27.7 percent of Americans on Tribal lands lack reliable broadband coverage, which limits their ability to use internet-based financial services. In addition, rural and Tribal areas often lack easy geographic proximity to brick-and-mortar banking branches and automated teller machines, making it difficult to access financial services, including bank accounts. Farmers, small business owners, and others in these areas frequently rely on paper checks to conduct their regular business with associates and the government alike.”
They concluded: “In addition, the domestic forest products industry manufactures over $435 million worth of products—including paper products that would be impacted by this decision—and directly employs more than 925,000 people across the country, many of whom live in rural areas. This industry produces essential items that Americans use every day, from paper to packaging. Continuing the use of paper checks supports our domestic pulp and paper industry, as well as consumer choice for individuals and businesses. We believe that digital delivery and paper checks should exist in a complementary manner. For these reasons, we urge the Administration to extend the timeline for the implementation of E.O. 14247 and conduct frequent outreach to individuals and businesses regarding this transition.”
Thousands of individuals rely on paper checks — many of whom live in rural areas, or may be elderly, disabled, or low-income. Although individuals can apply for a waiver to receive paper checks, the process is needlessly bureaucratic and there is little information if the Department of Treasury office has the workforce available to process waivers applications. It is also unclear as to whether those with existing waivers will need to re-apply to maintain the status quo and if people need to apply for multiple waivers across different agencies.
The full text of the letter can be found HERE.
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