Democrat Marc Dann practically boasts that he is one of the most partisan statewide officeholders ever elected. But, he admits, "We don't have a monopoly on good ideas."
Thus, Ohio's attorney general lauds Rep. William Batchelder's effort to limit payday lending, a practice that has literally exploded in the state over the past decade.
Batchelder, a conservative Republican believed to have designs on succeeding Jon Husted as speaker of the House in 2009, is drafting a bill to limit short-term loans that come with sky-high interest rates.
Dann is all for restraining companies whose annual interest rates on loans approach 400 percent - no matter who's pushing the proposal. So far, however, House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty, a Democrat, is loath to jump on Batchelder's bandwagon.
By her unwillingness to support an issue championed by a Republican, Beatty seems to be letting the people's interests take a back seat to her party's. She has told reporters that some of her Columbus constituents truly feel they need the short-term loans, believing it's better to pay the interest than to lose elec- tricity or an apartment because of missed payments.
But no one is proposing doing away with short-term loans altogether.
Batchelder is still drafting his measure, but Dann and others support setting interest-rate caps. He also expects Beatty to come around.
Consider these findings from "Trapped in Debt," a report from Policy Matters Ohio and the Housing Research & Advocacy Center:
In 1996, Ohio had 107 locations; today it's 1,562 - more sites than McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King combined.
Sources : http://www.cleveland.com/
|
