The National Black Caucus of State Legislators and the National Policy Alliance, which represents the Congressional Black Caucus as well as some 10,000 black lawmakers in all levels of government, have backed model legislation imposing surcharges and limiting the appeal of net metering.
In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Kessel said he would try to limit surcharge increases but said it was inevitable that customers would pay more next year.
A 1% surcharge, with an upper limit of ¥1,000 $9.500), is to be added to the wholesale price of all DVD recorders and blank discs, so that copyright holders can be compensated for the copying done by legitimate users.
The rules would also limit the surcharges imposed by some merchants on card payments for purchases, in particular airline tickets.
The charge is $10 on one-way tickets and $20 on round trips, except for Alaska Airlines, a mostly short-haul carrier on the West Coast that is charging half as much, and US Airways, which is limiting the surcharge to advance-purchase fares.
The only downside is the crazy-high $15 monthly surcharge for the No Limits DVR, which is also only available at launch in certain markets.
One ad, headlined "Who Decides What You Drive?" said the measure could result in higher gasoline taxes, lower speed limits, surcharges for sport utility vehicles and even fees for every mile driven.
Artists would be vetted, and any tenants whose income rose above the limits would pay a surcharge.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull last month announced a limit on merchants imposing surcharges that exceeded the cost of accepting a card payment.
"In short, the new provisions will limit the amount businesses can surcharge customers for use of payment methods such as most credit and debit cards," Sims said.
