Arizona Payday should learn from Ohio Initiative
According to Matthew Benson of the Arizona Republic, The leaders of an initiative that was attempting to shut down Arizona’s payday-loan industry have recently withdrawn their proposal. They said they failed to collect enough signatures to make the state’s November ballot. Benson says the group, Stop Payday Loans, indicates that they will instead focus their attention on defeating an initiative led by the payday-loan industry that would include some consumer-interest reforms but also allow the industry and its more than 600 branches to operate in perpetuity in Arizona. A provision in state law enabling the payday-loan industry is scheduled to end in 2010, barring an extension.
The Arizona players should take a cue from the recent Ohio initiatives, and come up with an excellent compromise on the issue to ensure fair lending in Arizona.