ProgressOhio

Gilligan, Celeste, Voinovich and Taft come forward to address voter confusion

(COLUMBUS) - In an effort to eliminate any confusion voters might still have with Issue 5, four former Ohio governors today announced their support for a cap on payday loan interest rates and called for Ohioans to vote "YES" on Issue 5 to keep the rate cap in place.

Citing the need to protect Ohioans from the financial devastation that can result from high-interest payday loans, Governors John Gilligan, Richard Celeste, George Voinovich and Bob Taft came together to ensure voters are clear that a "yes" vote on November 4 will cap the annual interest rate that payday lenders charge at 28 percent. Otherwise, lenders will be able to continue charging 391 percent.

As many Ohioans are still making their final decisions before heading to the ballot on Tuesday, the two Democrats and two Republicans said voters must clearly understand if the payday lending lobby is successful in repealing the reform law, our families, our seniors, our communities and the overall quality of life in Ohio will suffer.

Gilligan, who served as governor from 1971 to 1975, said passage of Issue 5 would help Ohio's economy, not cost the state 6,000 jobs as the lenders contend. Gilligan also reminded voters to carefully read the ballot language because a "yes" vote on Issue 5 is a vote against the payday lending industry and for lower interest rates.

"Records at the Ohio Department of Commerce show that nearly two-thirds of payday lenders have already applied for new state licenses to offer other types of short-term loans or services,'' Gilligan said. "The job-loss figures are the latest misinformation in a campaign known for distortion and misdirection.''

The latest campaign spending reports revealed the payday lending lobby has spent more than $13 million dollars to overturn Ohio's reform law. Through multi-million dollar media buys, direct mail and phone calls to voters, the payday lobby has spared no expense to mislead voters into thinking this issue is about jobs or individual freedom.

Current U.S. Senator Voinovich, Ohio governor from 1991 until 1998, said Ohio's payday reforms simply extend the protections to all Ohio families that are already provided to active duty military members and their families.

"In 2006, I supported the effort to protect the financial health of our service men and women as Congress passed a law capping the interest rate payday lenders charged members of our military," Voinovich said. "We should offer every citizen, especially during these tough economic times, the same protections. I urge all Ohioans to vote 'yes' on Issue 5."

According to former governor Bob Taft, who served from 1999 to 2007, Issue 5 is about nothing more than greed.

"I'm voting 'yes' on Issue 5 because it is about financial freedom - freedom for Ohio families from the financial ruin caused by payday lenders who charge exploitive interest rates," Taft said. "The payday lending lobby has spent millions deceiving voters into thinking this is a jobs issue. The real issue is their exorbitant profits earned from those who can least afford it."

Former Gov. Celeste also emphasized the greed of the lenders.

"Payday lenders target recipients of Social Security, knowing they are likely to rely on small fixed incomes but are unlikely to pay the loans off quickly," Celeste said. "As a result, they become trapped in cycle of debt. A 'yes' vote on Issue 5 will help all Ohio residents, but it will provide special help for senior citizens."

As proof that seniors are more likely to be caught in the debt trap, Celeste, who was governor from 1983 until 1991, pointed to a recent analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that shows many payday lenders are clustered around government-subsidized housing for seniors and the disabled.

At a time when Ohio faces very difficult economic challenges, the former governors stressed that payday lending undermines savings and investment, siphons dollars away from more useful, productive and essential services, and puts a burden on our local food banks and social services.