Poll: Overwhelming Majority Of Ohioans Favor Crack Down On Payday Lender Industry
| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - May 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am EDT |
An overwhelming majority of Ohioans have a negative view of payday lending and are more likely to favor political candidates that are willing to crack down on the industry, according to the results of a recent poll.
When asked how a candidate's position on a proposal to reduce payday lending interest rates from 391% to 36% would affect their decision at the ballot box, 72% of respondents said they were more likely to support a candidate that favored the measure, compared to 19% that said they were less likely. Fifty-one percent said they were "much more likely," while 11% said they were "much less likely."
On another poll question, 64% of respondents said they viewed the current 391% interest rate as "predatory" and the lower proposed limit should be sufficient to enable lenders to operate. Only 17% said the cap would "hurt the payday lending industry and result in a shortage of loans available to the poor and working people."
Payday lending has already figured as an election issue during the Republican primary for the 35th House District in March. Ron Maag defeated his better-funded opponent John Rabenold, criticizing him on campaign materials as a "lobbyist for Check & Go, a payday lender."
The survey was commissioned by Service Employees International Union, a labor union that is a member of the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, the national firm Benenson Strategy Group queried 1,000 Ohioans statewide that pollsters identified as likely swing voters.
When asked how a candidate's position on a proposal to reduce payday lending interest rates from 391% to 36% would affect their decision at the ballot box, 72% of respondents said they were more likely to support a candidate that favored the measure, compared to 19% that said they were less likely. Fifty-one percent said they were "much more likely," while 11% said they were "much less likely."
On another poll question, 64% of respondents said they viewed the current 391% interest rate as "predatory" and the lower proposed limit should be sufficient to enable lenders to operate. Only 17% said the cap would "hurt the payday lending industry and result in a shortage of loans available to the poor and working people."
Payday lending has already figured as an election issue during the Republican primary for the 35th House District in March. Ron Maag defeated his better-funded opponent John Rabenold, criticizing him on campaign materials as a "lobbyist for Check & Go, a payday lender."
The survey was commissioned by Service Employees International Union, a labor union that is a member of the Ohio Coalition for Responsible Lending, the national firm Benenson Strategy Group queried 1,000 Ohioans statewide that pollsters identified as likely swing voters.
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