Gathering a sufficient number of signatures to place an initiative petition on the statewide ballot is a daunting task. However, reformers in Arizona and Montana pulled it off, and voters in both states approved substantial changes.
Missouri’s recent history with payday loan reform attempts is abysmal. In 2009, the House speaker refused to assign legislation prepared by Democrat Mary Still of Columbia to a committee.
In 2010, the same House leader, Republican Ron Richard (now a state senator), sent Still’s bill to a committee chaired by a legislator who operated a payday loan business.
In this year’s session, Republicans in the House pushed through a bill that capped the annual percentage rate at 1,564 — plenty high for Missouri to maintain its ignominious reputation as the nation’s payday loan capital. Fortunately, that deceptive “reform” bill never moved in the Senate.
Lenders say a cap of 36 percent annual interest would kill the short-term lending industry in Missouri, leaving citizens with poor credit and banking histories nowhere to go if they run into trouble. But that’s the legislature’s fault for not looking in good faith for a middle ground. There is simply no excuse for Missouri’s lending laws to be vastly more permissive than any other state.
“I saw what happened every time (Still) brought a bill to the legislature,” said Jim Bryan, a retired United Methodist pastor from Columbia who is leading the reform coalition. “We’re basically concerned about the fairness of these institutions preying on people in financial distress.”
There is a legitimate concern with Missouri’s initiative petition process being misused by out-of-state individuals and interest groups attempting to push a cause. But payday lending reform is a homegrown attempt worth pursuing, and one that the state legislature brought upon itself.
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