Payday Loan Insiders’ Political Contribution Raises Questions
By J.J. CameronPayday Loan Writer
In Nashville, WKRN often runs ethics investigations into local, questionable practices.
On Thursday, the target of one of these reports? Contributions made to a political campaign by a powerful, payday loan couple.
Evidently, secret payments were made to Senator Jerry Cooper by a lobbyist and her husband, a wealthy businessman. In 2000, Jerry Cooper received $35,000 from Steve and Brenda McKenzie.
This pair made its millions by starting a chain of successful instant payday loan businesses in strip malls and poor neighborhoods. A year earlier, the McKenzies sent Cooper $35,000, legislation unanimously passed through Cooper's committee essentially preventing the state from shutting down the payday loan industry.
A bit sketchy indeed.
During the year 2000, when Cooper was getting the money from the cash loan couple, Brenda was a registered lobbyist on Capitol Hill for the Payday Loan and Check Cashing Industry. Retired FBI agent Hank Hillian said:
“I don't like it. If this is influence buying, it's wrong and that's why you really need to look into something like this."
While McKenzie describes the payments as a loan, Senator Cooper apparently did not see it that way, as that cash is nowhere to be found on Senator Cooper’s financial disclosure statement, where public officials must disclose "Loans for more than $1,000."
The TV station had questions about this contribution from faxless payday loan advocates and called the senator's office. No one has called back yet.
The station did, however, talk to State Senate Majority Leader, Ron Ramsey, who also serves as Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. He said that as soon as he heard about this information, he called key officers of Tennessee's recently created Ethics Commission to investigate.
The Ethics Commission will begin its work on October 1.
