Show-Me Daily offers their take on Tuesday’s disappointing vote in Kansas City.  Unfortunately, when legislation like this is passed, it’s not just businesses that suffer.  Consumers end up feeling the squeeze. 

Rep. John Patrick Burnett a Democrat representing a district in Kansas City, MO calls the Payday Pundit a “phony blog.”  Representative Burnett, just because you don’t agree with something doesn’t make it phony.

There is nothing phony about the hundreds of people employed by payday lenders in Missouri.  Or the tens of thousands of hard-working Missourians who appreciate access to cash between paychecks and use payday loans to avoid bounced check/overdraft and late bill payment fees.

Rep. Burnett, if you were to simply click on the “about us” section, you’d find that Payday Pundit is the official blog of the Community Financial Services Association of America, the national trade association of payday lenders.   CFSA members operate around 288 storefronts in Missouri and 150 in Kansas.

Last fall the Kansas City City Council passed new zoning regulations and additional restrictions on payday lenders, but the Council does not have the staff to oversee the new regulations, so they are now asking voters to approve a $1,000 annual fee per payday lending business in order to pay for 2-3 staff to oversee the new regulations. 

So, under the guise of “protecting consumers”, the Council passes more regulations, then wants to charge an extra $1000 per year per payday lender, a fee which will likely be passed on to their customers.  

Who exactly is being “protected?”

*Yossarian