In Arkansas, Hopeful Governors Each in Favor of Payday Loan Regulations
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
Perhaps it's because a certain payday advance lender in the state is still causing major problems for former clients. Or maybe they just didn't wish to disagree on absolutely everything.
Whatever the basis for their beliefs, the fact remains that Gubernatorial candidates Mike Beebe (a Democrat, pictured) and Asa Hutchinson (a Republican) both said Monday they support the top items on the legislative agenda of AARP Arkansas.
Among these issues? Legislation limiting fast payday loan lenders from charging interest rates beyond the constitutional limit.
Beebe - the state attorney general and a former state senator - faces Hutchinson, a former congressman and undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the Nov. 7 general election. Naturally, the question of regulating cash loans in the state is one of the few they agree on.
AARP Arkansas, which has about 351,000 members in the state, announced plans to push an agenda for improved long-term care funding, better security for nursing home residents and payday loan lending reform in a statewide campaign this fall. The two candidates were asked Monday to respond to these issues of concern.
Beebe said Monday that he opposed the original 1999 Check Cashers Act, having voted to repeal the act in 2001. He said "[payday advance loan] lenders operating in Arkansas under Arkansas law should have to abide by the Arkansas Constitution."
While not exactly a bold statement, The Check Cashers Act allows some out-of-state banks affiliated with check cashers not licensed in Arkansas to hand out small loans above the state-mandated interest rate limit of 17 percent annually. Some cash loan lenders charge rates as high as 520 percent.
AARP Arkansas President Billie Ann Myers said last week the organization wants the Legislature to change to law to restrict providers of bad credit payday loans to charging no more than 17 percent.
Hutchinson campaign spokesman David Kinkade said Monday that Hutchinson has already called for a repeal of the Check Cashers Act and "has advocated placing a penalty fine provision into the state's usury law."
Arkansas seniors, many of whom live month-to-month on their Social Security checks, must be protected from predatory lenders," Kinkade said.
