The credit card reform bill, which passed through Congress Wednesday and is expected to be signed into law by President Barack Obama Friday, will serve as a "warning light" to credit card companies that they can no longer take advantage of consumers, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D—Pa., said.
"We’re sending a message that the credit card companies haven’t gotten for a number of years now…that they have to be more responsible to the marketplace," Kanjorski told CNBC in a live interview. "The Congress can’t regulate everything, but sometimes we have to send very poignant messages to these individuals to make sure they get it."
The bill will require credit card companies to give consumers 45 days notice before they up their rates, and it will make it harder to issue credit cards to students. By targeting those who can least afford incredible increases, Kanjorski foresees the start to an economic recovery, he said.
Still, he’s leery of saying it's absolute.
"There are other things that could happen, and if those things do happen, we could go right back into a credit crunch or another economic drop," he said. "But if everything holds together, by the end of the year we should see a significant upturn, and then we’ll be on our way to recovery."
If Obama signs the bill as expected, it will be his third bill passed since taking office—and there aren’t any plans to slow down.
"We'll be moving right through the summer on energy, on healthcare, on education, on all these bills," Kanjorski said.