It's been debated in public and behind the scenes. Now, a proposal to place limits on payday and car title lenders has won approval in a Senate committee.
The Senate Business and Commerce Committee voted 5-1 on Thursday to send the bill by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, to the full Senate. The legislation would close a loophole that allows payday lenders to operate outside of Texas regulations imposed on other financial institutions.
Often the lenders charge fees that reach 500 percent or more, and customers can end up rolling over their loans multiple times because they can't pay them off.
Davis' bill would limit fees, eliminate rollover fees and place customers on an installment payoff plan if they have rolled over the loan three times. Consumer and religious groups back the legislation.
"This is a tremendous victory for working-class Texans," Davis said in a prepared statement. But the measure could be doomed down the road.
Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, and chairwoman of the House Pensions, Investments and Financial Services Committee, has said she doesn't want to pass sweeping legislation that she says will put payday lenders out of business and cut off that credit to Texans who need it.
Truitt wants to address any problems with specific pieces of legislation she has filed.
Davis, meanwhile, doesn't like Truitt's bills. She says they don't do enough and has threatened to work against them if they reach the Senate.
So it seems to be a stalemate, for now.
Source: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/04/limits-on-payday-lending-get-s.html
political buttons political consulting firms political advertisements political quiz laser politic politic
No comments:
Post a Comment