New Mexico Newspaper Alleges Link Between Payday Loan Industry, Gov. Richardson’s Travel
By Paul RizzoPayday Loan Writer
Did the payday loan industry pay for another trip for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson that the media hasn't reported yet?
That's the assertion of yesterday's online edition of the New Mexican. According to the most recent Democratic Governors Association contribution / expenditure report, the nation's largest payday loan company made a travel contribution valued at $2,352 on February 5.
The day after Advance America paid the sum, Richardson — the chairman of the DGA — gave the keynote address at the Emergency Issues Conference at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. From there, Richardson traveled to Washington for a news conference with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to discuss the effects of President Bush's budget proposals on their respective states.
At the time, Richardson's office said the DGA was paying for Richardson's trip. Yet the DGA's report, which is filed with the IRS, didn't list any other travel expenses or contributions for those days. Three weeks prior, the Albuquerque Journal reported that Advance America made at least six travel contributions to the DGA within the last year, for almost $17,000.
For what it's worth, some of previous contribution dates coincide with Richardson travel. In early February, the State Legislature was debating a bill that some critics — including consumer advocate and Attorney General Patricia Madrid — criticized as being too friendly to the companies that offer instant payday loans. The bill died on the Senate floor as the result of a threatened filibuster.
Advance America, which operates at least 10 cash loan offices in New Mexico, gave another $10,000 to the Democratic Governors Association on February 24, bringing its total for the year so far to $12,352. It remains to be seen whether there was any impropriety on Richardson's part, but these developments in the New Mexico payday loan industry are certainly worth following.
