Calling it a "special case situation," Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin said he would work to find a way to exempt state government-issued debit cards used to distribute benefits from his amendments to give the Federal Reserve the power to regulate interchange fees.

Durbin, who made the announcement at a hearing at which he unveiled a report indicating considerable savings to the federal government if it were allowed to negotiate interchange fees, has been pushing to keep his amendment in the legislation being negotiated by House-Senate conferees. It is currently in the Senate version but not the House bill.

Durbin is fighting for his amendment at a time when banks and credit unions have been mounting an extensive lobbying effort to remove it from the final bill. A bipartisan group of 131 House members (out of a total of 433 members) signed a "dear colleague," letter asking conferees to remove the amendment.