Krebs' bill would nix gifts for student credit cards

03/05/08 by Jim Joyner      A bill sponsored by State Del. Susan Krebs (R-Dist. 9B) is seeking to prohibit credit card companies from offering free gifts to college students on campuses as a reward for signing up for new credit cards.      The bill, HB 1210, is set for a hearing next Thursday, March 13, in Annapolis, and is being co-sponsored by other members of the Carroll County House Delegation, as well as more than two dozen other delegates.      Krebs said the target of the bill is not necessarily credit card debt for students -- "although certainly that's an issue too," she said -- but simply that students can rack up multiple credit cards during their college years.      The harm, she said, is that credit rating firms look at the number of inquiries -- or "hits" that a person has when they attribute a credit score -- and every time a card account is opened or closed, it counts as another "hit." "Students are innocently told, 'Oh just open a card and get this gift,' but what they don't realize is that it can impact their credit score," she said.      And that, she said, can result in qualifying for poor or sub-prime interest rates when shopping, years later, for a home. "Sometimes you don't even know -- you simply don't qualify for the best (loan) rate," she said.      Krebs said she checked her own score and found several cards she didn't even know were still active. And while her legislation won't impact cards and offers in stores and other retailers, she hopes it can influence campus practices. The bill would prohibit credit card issuers from offering gifts in exchange for completion of a credit card application on any state campus, or at any sporting event held at any higher education institution.      Krebs said the bill has hit home with many in Annapolis -- in fact, she's even had help researching and filing the bill from an intern, Christina Markuski, who attends the University of Maryland.      In addition, the measure would prohibit card companies from purchasing student information -- such as names, addresses or e-mail addresses -- from colleges.      Krebs acknowledges that she doesn't know how widespread that practice is, but knows some colleges do it, "so we thought we'd be proactive and include it in the bill."      HB-1210 is scheduled to be heard next Thursday, March 13, at 1 p.m. in Annapolis. For details, go to mlis.state.md.us/2008rs/billfile/hb1210.htm. Newspaper agreement resolves legislation      State Del. Tanya Shewell (R-Dist. 5A) and four publishers of free newspapers serving Carroll last week agreed on a plan to help stop delivery of free newspapers to people who don't wish to get them.      Publishers agreeing to the Carroll Compact are Michael Phelps, CEO of The Examiner; Pat Richardson, publisher of the paid Carroll County Times and the free Marketplace; James Mannarino, group president of The Gazette; and Val Stokes, CEO of Kapp Advertising which produces The Merchandiser.      As part of the agreement, Shewell withdrew a pair of bills she had introduced that would have made publishers subject to fines if they did not stop delivery of a newspaper after receiving a complaint from a homeowner.      The bills had been scheduled for a hearing this week, and targeted free papers that are not delivered via the U.S. Postal Service.      "If a constituent problem can be resolved without putting another law on the books -- that is a good thing," said Shewell in a statement.      John J. Murphy, executive director of the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Press Association, helped negotiate the agreement.      As part of the agreement, the publishers agreed that unsolicited print publications will contain a notice with a toll-free number to contact to stop delivery.       The county commissioners, the State's Attorney and municipal mayors in the county will also be provided with a hotline telephone number where they may call to address complaints or problems.      Publishers also agreed to increase supervision of carriers, create a system to alert each other of delivery problems and work to minimize the environmental impact of papers.