The day after tomorrow
June 29, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)No, not the cheesey post-nuclear war movie of the early ’80s, but the end of payday lending in Arizona. From the story:
Payday loans with interest rates topping 400 percent become illegal in Arizona at midnight Wednesday, after voters rejected a 2008 ballot measure to extend the industry’s 10-year authorization to operate.
State Senator Debbie McCune-Davis of Phoenix helped defeat last-ditch efforts to reverse the election results in the legislature.
“Voters were given the opportunity to make a decision about whether payday lenders continue to operate at outrageously high interest rates or change their practices to come under the 36 percent usury law. The voters were very clear about it, and now it’s happening.”
McCune-Davis calls ending payday loans “a victory for the people of Arizona.” Payday lenders say they can’t cover operating costs with a 36 percent rate cap, and several payday loan stores have already closed.
McCune-Davis missed the recent study by National Consumer Law Center saying that alternatives are NOT cheaper.
Lenders say they were providing a necessary service, but McCune-Davis says people have other options for small, short-term loans.
Making things interesting
June 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From The Hill:
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) said Monday he would vote against advancing Wall Street overhaul legislation.
The move raises pressure on Senate Democrats to win the votes of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and a handful of Senate Republicans.
Senate Democrats aim to pass the Wall Street overhaul bill this week, but the passing of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has given them little room to negotiate votes. House and Senate lawmakers finalized the legislation in a conference process early Friday morning.
Comment of the Day
June 28, 2010 | Uncategorized | Comments (0)Regarding Arizona law taking effect:
Shame to see a State cancel jobs when they seem so hard to come by these days.
Arizona’s economy
June 28, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (0)I hope the legislature doesn’t start complaining about job losses. From the story:
With the law that allows extremely high-interest loan expiring in just a few days, dozens of payday-loan stores throughout the Valley are closing their doors.
Byrd and financial reform
June 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From CBS News:
The House and the Senate were poised to pass a sweeping financial reform measure this week and send it to the president’s desk, but the death of Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia could delay the final votes on the bill.
Byrd, Congress’ longest-serving member, died at the age of 92 early this morning. While the senator’s health was fragile for several years, his vote has proved critical for Democrats, who since the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy last year have been one vote shy of a filibuster-proof, 60 vote majority.
With Byrd’s death, it is now unclear whether Democrats have enough votes to overcome a Republican filibuster to pass financial reform. Four Republicans — Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine and Charles Grassley of Iowa — helped pass an initial version of the bill in May, and three of them (excluding Grassley) voted for “cloture,” which closes debate and ends a filibuster. Two Democrats — Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin — voted against cloture and the bill.
Financial reform and Byrd’s death
June 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Senator Robert Byrd’s death early this morning changes the dynamics of the financial reform vote in the Senate. If a filibuster is threatened and 60 votes are needed, the Dems will have to flip one of the two Democrats who voted against it or get a Republican. Or, wait until Senator Byrd’s replacement is named.
Winners and losers
June 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Politico makes a list. (We’re not on it.)
Update Arizona
June 28, 2010 | Arizona, industry | Comments (2)New law takes effect on Thursday. From the story:
Some payday lenders in Arizona have already shut their doors and more are expected to follow when a law authorizing their high-interest loans expires at the end of the month.
Starting Thursday, the state no longer will allow payday-loan operators to set interest rates as high as 460% annually. A 10-year-old law that allowed them to charge above the 36% annual rate cap imposed on other lenders will expire.
Lee Miller of the trade group Arizona Consumer Financial Services says smaller operators are expected to close, while large companies will try to find new products for Arizona customers.
For your reading displeasure
June 27, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)The House Financial Services Committee has posted the conference report.
“More harm than good”
June 26, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Investors Business Daily is not high on what they call “Financial Deform.”
