Angry Lawmaker Torpedoes Oregon Payday Loan Bill

Historical archive, first published 2005 — payday-lending laws and rates have changed since. Preserved for the record.

Angered by insinuations that some lawmakers have been bought off with campaign contributions from the payday loan industry, an Oregon House committee chairman says he is going to shelve a bill that would cap rates charged by payday loan shops.

“The bill’s dead,'’ Rep. Wayne Krieger said last wast week after his committee canceled a public hearing on the Senate-passed bill to limit interest on the short-term payday loans to 15 percent.

Krieger and other Republicans are upset because a campaign finance watchdog group this past week released figures showing that payday loan agencies and other financial groups opposing the bill contributed nearly $150,000 last fall to legislative candidates.