Arizona proposal to delay payday loans ban
Arizona senator Robert Blendu, R - Litchfield Park, has made a proposal to push the deadline for the law that would essentially eliminate the payday loan industry in Arizona back from 2010 to 2012. He proposes that the state Department of Financial Institutions would examine the number of loans made to Arizonans and the amount of money the payday loan companies collect. He hopes that this may give state legislators information that would persuade them to keep payday loans legal in the state. The proposal has been met with plenty of opposition, though. Rep. Marian McClure, R - Tucson, has called the payday loan industry, “an equal-opportunity predator”, and ridiculed Blendu for the proposal. She pointed to the fact that lenders are charging 15 percent interest on payday loans, which equates to a 400 percent annual interest rate. It is likely that the proposed ban on payday loans in Arizona will continue as scheduled, unless Blendu can drum up more support for his proposal.
