The capitol is swarming with advocates today ready to testify in favor of House Bill 2871. Everyone's in a great mood. What a difference! For years Republican leadership in the House has turned a deaf ear to the faith community and other advocates who have been trying to stop legal loan sharking in Oregon. But because the payday loan industry had such a lock on the Republican leadership, we couldn't even get a hearing. If former Speaker Karen Minnish hadn't faced a tough re-election campaign in 2006, the Payday Loan Reform Act never would have been on the table for last year's special session, let alone been passed.
At the time, the payday loan industry promised they would find a way to get around the new law, and they have. That's why we need House Bill 2871, and under the new legislature, there is a good chance of passing it.
In fact, Speaker of the House Jeff Merkley pledged to close Oregon's loan shark loopholes with House Bill 2871 this morning at a news conference in the capitol. This is one of the few bills on which he is the chief sponsor.
"There is no legitimate reason why a lender should chart $1,000 interest on a $200 loan," Merkley said. "Those lenders prey on the dire financial circumstances of some Oregonians to line their own pockets."
House Bill 2871 is necessary, said the speaker, because payday lenders are reorganizing to avoid limits.
"As soon as we passed the cap on payday lenders last year, they announced their intention to skirt the law by exploiting loopholes," Merkley said. "It is time to close those loopholes for good."
The Speaker was joined by Gwen Curran, a volunteer from AARP who presented a poll showing that 75 percent of AARP members support the 36 percent cap on car title, payday and other consumer loans.
"AARP Oregon members clearly say payday loans don’t pay," said Curran.
Also speaking at the news conference was Bishop Paul Swanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Jonas Monast, of the Center for Responsible Lending
Next up: The hearing starts at 1:00 pm. If the computer battery doesn't die, we'll be blogging live from there.
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