One of the things to appreciate if you are an FAA licence holder is that the FAA is mandated to provide the minimum legislation necessary for safety.
This means that any change in the rules must be open to comment by the public (individuals, associations, lobbyists, industry- all are the public), and if enough adverse comments are made, the FAA has to take that into account.
The FAA has to show that it's proposed actions are in the public interest.
Don't you wish that all other aviation authorities (and other government agencies) had this sort of mandate???
In another way to look at this- if they are going to start charging for the renewals, and probably lots of other things, then you should be able to demand that they meet the requirements that are imposed on those they regulate. So, if they send someone to do a check ride on you, you should be able to see that they are all properly trained, have the necessary ratings and currency, and so on. You should also be able to demand a level of service (i.e. turnaround time for renewals, access to regulatory personnel, etc.) that is commensurate with what you are paying for.
(One of the interesting things with the FAA is that since it's free, you really can't complain about the service....)