All four members of Maine’s Congressional delegation are urging the Treasury Department and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to hold off implementing an executive order eliminating paper checks.
In March of this year, President Donald Trump (R) signed an executive order with the intention of “modernizing payments to and from America’s bank accounts.”
According to the order, issuing paper checks “imposes unnecessary costs; delays; and risks of fraud, lost payments, theft, and inefficiencies.”
President Trump also suggested that paper checks are sixteen-times more likely to be lost or stolen “to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer (EFT).”
It was also noted that the government spent $657 million in FY24 to maintain the “physical infrastructure and specialized technology” necessary for digitizing paper records.
Click Here to Read the Full Executive Order
The delegation pushed back on some of these assertions, arguing that people who live in rural areas — particularly those who may be elderly, disabled, or low-income — would be negatively impacted by this change.
Signing onto a letter sent to Treasury and OMB alongside members of Maine’s delegation was Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).
“Over 5 million households across the United States do not have a checking or savings account at a bank or credit union,” the lawmakers wrote. “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.”
The legislators go on to point out the lack of broadband access in rural areas, limiting residents’ ability to utilize digital banking tools.
Statistics were also provided on the domestic forest products industry, suggesting that continuing the use of paper checks “supports our domestic pulp and paper industry, as well as consumer choice for individuals and businesses.”
In addition to requesting that the agencies delay implementing the executive order to allow for more time to connect with individuals and businesses about this transition, the lawmakers also asked the federal government to respond to a series of questions by the of this week.
Topics covered by these questions include the waiver process for those with special circumstances, as well as the steps taken to ensure a smooth transition to digital payments on a broad scale, among other things.
