Fri Mar 12 2010
by Marc Kovac
Capital Bureau Chief
Columbus -- The head of the Ohio Senate doesn't think a potential November ballot issue to overturn recent legislation regulating the payday lending industry has much of a chance.
Bill Harris, R-Ashland, predicted that the issue would fail 80 percent-20 percent -- "If even 20," he said June 24.
He added, "The consensus continues to be there had to be something done. ... When I'm talking to people out in the district, even the ones that were participants with payday loans felt what we had done needed to be done."
Harris offered his thoughts a few days after Attorney General Nancy Rogers refused to certify the petition language for the referendum issue, brought forth by the Reject House Bill 545 Committee.
She based her decision on the wording of bullet points that were deemed "misleading" to readers or inaccurate.
The legislation the referendum aims to overturn caps the interest rates charged on payday loans at 28 percent (compared to nearly 400 percent now) and prohibits lenders from adding additional fees, interest or costs.
Individuals can borrow up to $500, or 25 percent of their monthly pay.
The bill also limits borrowers to four payday loans per year, prohibits them from taking out a new loan to pay off an old one and requires consumer education courses for those who take out two loans within a three-month period.
Opponents have said the bill will devastate the payday loan industry, likely closing locations and costing 6,000-plus Ohioans their jobs.
They also have questioned where people strapped for cash and facing emergencies would go for smaller, short-term loans.
Lawmakers OK'd the legislation before breaking for the summer, and Gov. Ted Strickland signed it into law.
It will take effect in September.
Earlier this month, however, a new group, called the Reject House Bill 545 Committee, submitted 2,920 signatures to the Ohio Attorney General and Secretary of State offices, a first step in placing a referendum repealing the legislation before voters in November.
Kim Norris, spokeswoman for the group, said new language has been crafted and new signatures are being collected to resubmit the issue, following Rogers' decision last week.
"We have a very aggressive effort under way right now," Norris said. "We're confident that, once Ohioans learn more about their credit options being yanked away from them without their voice being heard, that we will be successful."
Once the state offices give their OK, the committee is poised to collect, by late August, the 240,000-plus signatures required to place the issue before voters, Norris said.
That, Harris said, is their right.
"That's the great thing about our country and our state," he said. "If you want to do that, you can do it. If you want to spend the money, go right ahead and do it."
But, he added, "I can give them some good recommendations to where to spend that money that I think would be much more beneficial.... like education."
Marc Kovac is the Dix Newspapers Capital Bureau chief. E-mail him at mkovac@dixcom.com.
His Capital Blog can be found online at blogs.recordpub.com/capitalblog.
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