Imagine for a moment all the bills Congress would pass if they knew nobody was looking. Pet projects, unlimited favors for lobbyists, spending like there’s no tomorrow. It’d be an even bigger free-for-all, no doubt.

Thankfully, people have clued into how Congress works and are watching what’s being done very closely. When politicians try to sneak something by, they usually get called out for it.

A perfect example of this just happened in Washington, D.C.

Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Roger Marshall introduced a bill, the Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA), last Congress designed to let the Federal Reserve control how payments technology should work. But the Federal Reserve is not exactly known for its groundbreaking innovations, and this bill stalled out last year when it was heavily scrutinized by unions, consumers, credit unions, the airlines and others. It was exposed for being little more than a bonanza for huge retailers at the expense of consumers and small businesses.

But Sen. Durbin and Sen. Marshall are pushing the CCCA and tried to add it in the form of an amendment to the GENIUS Act, a bill focused on regulating something called stablecoin, a type of cryptocurrency. The GENIUS Act was introduced by Sen. Bill Hagarty of Tennessee and has both Republican and Democrat co-sponsors, and supporters of unrelated legislation saw it as a prime opportunity to try to ride the coattails of a more popular bill. In Colorado, fortunately, only amendments germane to the underlying bill can be offered — not so in Washington.

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The senators made their move and tried to add the CCCA as an amendment. In Colorado, union members, airport executives, consumers and many others made their opposition to this amendment clearly and unequivocally known.

As a result, the amendment did not proceed, and the Senate passed the GENIUS Act as is on June 17. It now heads to the House.

It wouldn’t have made sense to pass these restrictive mandates with the GENIUS Act, and it doesn’t now; the incentives currently in place for new technology and innovations would be destroyed.

Alongside a stall in new technology, consumers would also lose many of the benefits they’re currently accustomed to like credit card rewards. The way the payments world is structured right now allows for credit unions and banks to offer credit cards with all kinds of perks. I’m sure you’ve seen all that’s out there: airline miles, cashback, points and more. I pick credit cards with airline miles for travel. Others choose those with cash back rewards which are used by dozens of small business owners in southern Colorado including many minority-owned businesses.

These types of rewards help to spur spending, from travel to eating out. An end to rewards would be immediately noticed by the millions of hardworking Americans with a rewards card and the businesses that benefit from their spending.

Giving the government complete control of payments would also lead to more credit card crime. Criminals love getting ahold of credit card information and making purchases as quickly as possible. It can happen in a second, from a snatched purse or an online data breach. That’s why it’s critical banks and credit unions take the lead on fighting against these crimes — it’s their money and their customers’ money at stake. But this bill lets stores choose what technology to use, and they have a habit of wanting to use discount technology that isn’t safe.

When current Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper was Denver’s mayor and Michael Bennet his chief of staff, they helped grow Denver International Airport from a regional airport with few international flights to the sixth busiest airport in the world.  DIA Chief Executive Phil Washington, every major domestic carrier with flights at DIA and unions who have contracts with those carriers — including the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers and the Association of Flight Attendants — all oppose this bad bill. I urge our two great Colorado U.S. senators to protect the legacy they built at DIA and oppose the CCCA as well.

I’m glad to hear this bill hasn’t moved forward. A bill like this would hurt people who need safe, trustworthy credit cards in order to go about their business. However, we know the huge retailers pushing CCCA will keep coming back, and we need to be ready to make sure it never passes. Hickenlooper, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and their colleagues in the House should forcefully oppose this terrible idea now.

Donald Valdez is a former state representative and a rancher in Southern Colorado whose family has been ranching for seven generations