Yes, that’s what “consumer” advocates and pro-financial reform groups are doing.  From the Huffington Post story:

Given the complexity of financial regulatory reform, progressive observers looked to key leaders to gauge the value of the proposals under discussion. Among others, the group included Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor and head of the congressional panel overseeing the bailout; Heather Booth, the director of Americans for Financial Reform; Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO who has made confronting Wall Street a central part of his union’s mission; and Kathleen Day, a former Washington Post business reporter now with the Center for Responsible Lending.

All of them are out with statements celebrating the final bill, though with some reservations. The AFL-CIO put its statement out under the name of the director of the office of investment, Daniel Pedrotty. “This is a David and Goliath victory of working people against the big banks and Wall Street,” he said. “While it’s not perfect, this legislation is a giant step to changing the rules of the game that caused the economic crisis.”

Bull.

What if the state already has a payday lending law in statue, will the federal law over rule the current state law ? Or will the current state law stay in force ?

We get the worst of both worlds.    State laws will not be pre-empted.   I’m sure that the CFPB will need to address t his as they issue rules.  In other words, they will have to write rules that are not contradictory or make things too complicated vis-a-vis state laws.

Spoke to our lobbyists.  

As I said below, payday lending will be regulated by the CFPB, which will be housed at the Federal Reserve. (We preferred this to an independent Agency. )   Also, the CFPB will just make the rules, enforcement will be done at the state level.   There is also a provision that requires the CFPB to meet with small businesses before it begins the regulatory process.  We supported this strongly.

Lastly, the Treasury is given direction to create a program to help the unbanked and underbanked get small loans.   (It will be very interesting to see how they implement this.)

The lobbyists said the conference report is certain to pass the House and Senate next week.

Didn’t watch, but according to ABC News, he is “gratified.”

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a long story on changes to consumer finance: 

On July 1, Arizona will force changes on the state’s 595 payday-loan stores—outfits that make high-interest loans against future paychecks—that could effectively put them out of business. Wisconsin banned small loans backed by car titles that led many people to lose their vehicles. Arkansas, Maine and New York joined other states in putting curbs on tax preparers who offer costly loans against expected tax refunds.

The federal government, meanwhile, is for the first time requiring that lenders verify a borrower’s income and assets before issuing a home loan. It has also slapped broad new rules on credit-card issuers, limiting their ability to boost interest rates and charge certain fees.

Take heart.  The industry has proven pretty resilient.

LATE ADDITION: President Obama plans to speak on financial regulation before leaving for Canada Friday. A White House official said: “As the President departs for the G20 to discuss with world leaders the need for global coordination on issues including financial regulation, he will make brief remarks immediately before departure on the significant progress made on Wall Street reform last night with the conclusion of the conference.”

From Politico: 

The House plans to vote on the bill Tuesday, and the Senate next week as well. “This makes a huge difference. No one really thought we could get this done,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). But Dodd also said he didn’t know for sure that he had preserved his 60-vote majority in the Senate, in the face of all the changes.

Despite the last-minute efforts to soften the bill, the Wall Street reform act was shaping up as a tougher-than-expected response to the 2008 financial crisis.

The legislation would create a powerful new consumer financial protection bureau, limit the amount of fees debit-card companies can charge merchants, give the government the power to break up failing financial firms and force transparency of the $600 trillion derivatives market.

CFSA’s Tommy Moore responds to a recent anti-payday lending piece in the Montgomery Advertiser: 

While the 36 percent APR sounds reasonable, at such a rate the total fee charged on a $100 two-week advance would be $1.38. Payday lenders would not be able to cover the cost of originating a loan, let alone meeting employee payroll and benefits.

A proof point of this is that Goodwill, a non-profit, tax-exempt charity, is charging customers $9.90 per $100 borrowed (252 percent APR) for their “Good Money” payday loans. And this is only to break even.

This Associated Press story addresses payday lending:

Payday lenders and check cashers would be regulated, but enforcement would be left to states or the Federal Trade Commission.

Next week the “conference report” will be voted on up or down by each chamber.