In a new law that could put every trading post, Goodwill, flea market, garage sale and Craigslist merchant in the state of Louisiana out of business, a bipartisan group of elected representatives has opted to ban all cash payments for the buying and selling of used goods.
Though House Bill 195 was intended to make iteasier to track the sales of stolen goods by giving police a paper trailtofollow,the unintendedconsequences could be much more widespread. Namely, the law requires second-hand sales be made paid for with credit cards, paper checks, electronic transfer or money orders. Cash isprohibited.
It was signed into law on July 1, but flew so far under the radar thatpractically nobodyinthe media noticed until this week, when Louisiana’s KLFY Eyewitness News 10 put a spotlight on the new rules and their likely impacts on local business.
The law also requires second-hand sellers to obtain personal information abouteachbuyer —information like names, addresses, driver’s license number and even, if applicable, their license plate number — and turn it over to state officials.
The prohibition on cash sales is confusing on its face, and appears to contradict the verytext on each FederalReservenote incirculation. “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private,” U.S.dollars plainly state.
In a published opinion piece, attorneyThad D. Ackel, Jr. suggested that lawmakers have decided to sacrifice “individualprivacy, economic,civillibertyand freedom”inthe nameoflaw and order.
“Interestingly enough, although[p]awnshops are stillrequired to obtain clients personal information and transmit their client database information to law enforcement,theyare exempt from the restriction of cash payments,” he explained. “A jeweler next door to a pawnshop cannot offer clients the same payment method offered by its competing pawnshop neighbor.”
