Ohio taxpayers should be wary when politicians begin picking winners and losers in any marketplace. Their new target in Ohio and in other states is the payday lender industry, even though private sector payday loans are a legitimate business with tens of thousands of employees across the country that help provide a proportionate remedy to meet the short-term financial needs of millions of working customers.

The payday lending industry has many supporters at think tanks and universities.  Scholars who crunch numbers and actually know the facts understand payday loans are a viable and important alternative to bounced check fees, overdraft protection, and other costly services.