- Pennsylvania Among 'Terrible 10' Most Regressive Tax States
- February 4 Non-Partisan Training: HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013: HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Republican Governors Opt-In to Medicaid Expansion
- The Reports of Unions' Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
- Ask Allyson Schwartz to run for Governor
- Mind the gap: Opting Out of Medicaid Expansion Leaves Low-income Families Behind
- Jan. 14 Workshop:HOW TO RUN FOR ELECTION BOARD IN 2013; HOW TO RUN FOR COMMITTEEPERSON IN 2014
- Seth Williams on Guns, Jasmine Rivera on School Closures @PFC Meetup Wednesday
- PA Revenue Strong Midway Through Year; Tax Cut Could Have Big Impact
- What to Make of the Fiscal Cliff Deal?
A Big Win on Payday Lending, at Least for Now
Submitted by Dan U-A on Fri, 07/06/2012 - 7:16am.
Sorry to take so long for this update, but, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars of lobbying money, the payday lenders have lost a round in Pennsylvania. For now.
Consumer advocates in Pennsylvania won a hard-fought delay on Wednesday against a pending bill in the legislature that would once again permit payday lenders to charge predatory rates and victimize the state’s poor and downtrodden residents.
A bill that passed the Pennsylvania state house earlier this month that would raise the permissible annual percentage rate on small loans to 369 percent will be held in the state senate until the next legislative session in the fall, according to activists fighting against the bill.
The goal of the payday industry was to ram this through, quickly. Why? Because, the more attention legalizing loan sharking gets, the worse it is for the industry, and those who would enable it. So, while the payday lenders will be back in just a few short months, the delay into the fall is a real, substantive victory, won by a coalition of consumer advocates, religious groups and military veterans.
Of course, the battle is not over. And, in fact, the State Senators that still need the most education on the topic are largely the same ones that seemed on the verge of passing it. So, be ready in a few months, because a win is sweet, but a long term win would be a hell of a lot better.
State Senate Reluctance To Do Anything Can Be Advantageous
Decade after decade, the Pennsylvania Senate has acted as the Great Rejecter, killing liberal bills and conservative bills alike with reckelss abandon. In these times of conservative Republican domination of the Pennsylvania House, the Senate's unparalleled ability to reject legislation not aggressively pushed with the unanimous consent of the most powerful elements of our society should should be cheered and worked with.
Hopefully, the maintream banking industry will not get behind the payday lending industry, which some of its members have invested in. The flight from credit cards, now far outnumbered by debit cards, should send a warning to the banking industry that their credibility only goes so far when people feel economically exploited.
As for the PASenate, there is nothing like an outraged public, however, to get members of the Senate focused on doing what they do best: saying no. So contacting your Senators, regardless of party, is a good idea.