Ohio AG upheld
September 5, 2008 | Columbus Dispatch, Ohio, industry, media coverage, regulation, states | Comments (0)This is the first story on the late-breaking court ruling yesterday. The decision has not impact on the referendum. From the piece:
Although it is a loss for payday lenders, the decision does not affect their current referendum effort. On Sunday, the lenders’ coalition turned in 422,000 signatures, and county boards of elections will determine whether the group has the 241,366 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
A payday-lending coalition sued in July, as it started an effort to overturn new regulations on the industry. Attorney General Nancy H. Rogers rejected an initial petition summary submitted by the group, calling it vague and inaccurate, forcing lenders to submit new language and delaying their signature collection.
The group, Ohioans for Financial Freedom, argued that the state law giving Rogers 10 business days to review the summary let her eat up about 15 percent of the 90-day window that the committee had to collect its signatures. The lawsuit argued that impeded the constitutional right of referendum.
The appeals court disagreed, upholding a lower court decision.
“The fact that the 10-business-day provision might work to restrict, rather than facilitate the referendum process under some plausible set of circumstances is insufficient” to overturn the law, said Judge Judith L. French, writing for the 2-1 majority.
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