Starting today, hundreds of payday lenders’ employees face layoffs and thousands of their would-be customers will rack up late fees and bounced-check fees because legislators and the governor don’t approve of the type of loan they would have taken out to avoid those costs. By legislative and Lynch logic, it is better to pay a $30 bounced-check fee than $20 in interest on a $100 loan.

Payday loans often amount to a bad deal. But in some cases they make sense. Shutting down payday lenders was a disservice. The law ought to be repealed at the first opportunity.