Behind the Scenes of Washington Payday Advance Bill
By Paul RizzoPayday Loan Writer
Legislation in Washington to reform the payday loan lending industry appears to be dead. Oregon Public Broadcasting correspondent Austin Jenkins reports on what happened behind-the-scenes.
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State Representative Steve Kirby, a Democrat, chairs the House Banking Committee. He he had a package of fast payday advance lending reform bills.
One would have created a repayment plan for payday customers who get in trouble. But that and other bills never got off the House floor. He blames a ruckus by opponents of the industry.
“The industry, they were not responsible for killing these bills,” Kirby said. “This was actually people who fancy themselves to be consumer advocates who killed these bills. I’m appalled.”
One of people who opposed Kirby’s bills is Representative Sherry Appleton, also a Democrat. She says his bad credit cash loan proposals didn’t go far enough.
“I don’t just want to swat at the problem, I want to get rid of the problem. And that means that we need to have some tough legislation,” she said.
Appleton wants a thirty-six percent interest rate cap on pay day loans. But Committee Chair Kirby wouldn’t give her bill a hearing.
“You know around here when you try to go for all or nothing that’s a really good way to end up with nothing and that’s what we ended up with,” Kirby responded.
But Appleton isn’t giving up.
“And we’re going to come back and we will come back every year until we get something.”
