Payday Loan Bills Close to Being Passed in Oregon

Historical archive, first published 2006 — payday-lending laws and rates have changed since. Preserved for the record.

It looks like the end of the line for payday loans in Oregon. Consumer activists are on the brink of winning a victory in this week's special session  of the state Legislature.

As one of seven states with no interest cap on such cash loans, Oregon is expected to pass a new state law limiting interest to 36 percent a year and enacting other consumer protections for borrowers. The special session was called by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to funnel more state aid to struggling school districts and to plug a $136 million budget hole in Oregon's health and human services programs.

However, House and Senate leaders decided there was enough bipartisan support surrounding the cash loan issue to add it to the agenda for this week's session. The payday loan industry has been growing rapidly in Oregon. But consumer groups say a new state law is needed to protect people from lenders who at times charge more than 500 percent interest.

The last time the Legislature met, in the regular 2005 session, a bill to limit interest rates on payday loans was approved by the Democrat-controlled Senate but died in the Republican-controlled House. That measure was shelved by a House committee chairman who was angry about insinuations by a campaign finance watchdog group that House Speaker Karen Minnis and other GOP lawmakers had been bought off with campaign contributions from the payday loan industry.

“We're delighted that the Legislature is serious about passing a real payday loan reform law,” said Patty Wentz of the Our Oregon coalition.

The coalition had planned to join with community activists, union leaders and church groups to work for passage of a ballot measure this fall to clamp a limit on interest rates charged on cash advances.

That campaign will be put on hold if the Legislature passes the payday loan bill this week, Wentz said.