Gov. Nixon vetoes faux-reform payday-loan bill, calls it a ‘sham effort’
The payday-loan lobby is quite powerful in Missouri, a state that’s home to more payday-loan operations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. Given the growing awareness that its practices are designed to burden borrowers with long-term debt, the payday lobby, along with members of the Missouri General Assembly, put together a bill in the recent session that would “reform” the way payday loans work in the state. I use quotations because the irredeemable pieces of shit who work on behalf of the industry would never endorse a piece of legislation that would eat into their profits, as any decent piece of reform would necessarily do.
Anyway, the bill (which would have allowed lenders to charge a $75 fee on a $100 loan) passed. Every major newspaper in the state wrote about how and why it was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Today, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed the bill.
“Missourians want meaningful payday lending reform, not a sham effort at reform that allows such predatory practices to continue,” Nixon said, in a statement. “I encourage the General Assembly to approach this problem again next year, and present me with a bill that delivers true reform.”
Communities Creating Opportunities, a local nonprofit that has fought for payday-loan reform, cheered the move.
“It’s no surprise that an industry that makes billions by trapping the working poor with false promises and dirty fine print would try to stay in business by doing the same thing to lawmakers,” the group said in a statement. “Fortunately, Gov. Nixon saw through the smoke and mirrors and vetoed SB694. The payday loan industry actually sent their lobbyists to advocate in favor of this bill, which should tell you everything you need to know. Missourians need moral leadership in Jefferson City that puts the dignity of everyday Missourians above big donors or narrow interests. Enshrining 900% interest rates into law is not reform, it is moral cowardice.”
Big ups to Nixon. Between this and vetoing the bill that required a 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, he’s showing a willingness to stand up to the insane and pernicious ideas coming from extremist conservatives in Jeff City.
