Tell members of the Ohio House Committee on Financial Institutions, Real Estate, and Securities:Keep your call short, and be specific. Your main point is that you are urging representatives to support the bipartisan Batchelder-Hagan bill (House Bill 333).
Pick just a few of the talking points below. Personalize them if possible.
Let us know you made the call(s) by filling out the form below. This will help us track how many calls have been made by the Progress Ohio community. Use the "comments" field to share your thoughts on the issue, or to let us know how your call went.
TALKING POINTS ABOUT THE PROBLEM:
- Payday loans are designed to trap borrowers and fuel the payday lending industry's growth. The average Ohio borrower takes out 12.6 payday loans per year. A "First Loan Free" and a punch card with the 9th loan free for frequent borrowers aggressively lure customers into the debt trap.
- Ohio lawmakers granted the industry a major boost in 1995, and the legislature now bears a responsibility to curb the subsequent exploitation. They exempted payday lenders from interest-rate caps that applied to other small consumer loans, permitting the annual percentage rate on payday loans to approach 391 per cent.
- Payday lending strains the social service sector. High interest rates and fees strip wealth from families instead of building it. This strains food pantries and emergency service providers.
- Ohio borrowers deserve alternatives. Our state can do better than trapping working families with 391% APR loans.
TALKING POINTS ABOUT THE BILL:
- H.B. 333's proposal to limit interest rates at 36% APR is modeled after the federal Talent-Nelson amendment that provides payday lending protections to military families. This rate cap is absolutely key to any legislation purporting to help Ohio families stay out of the debt trap.
- H.B. 333 caps the number of loans permitted per year and prohibits payday lenders from making a loan to a borrower who has an outstanding payday loan. This stops payday lenders from turning short-term loans into over-priced, long-term debt.
- H.B. 333 offers borrowing alternatives by encouraging credit unions and banks to offer affordable small loans with a linked deposit program.
- H.B. 333 encourages financial literacy. It expands the responsibilities of the Consumer Finance Education Board to promote small loan consumer counseling and education for borrowers.
Members of the Financial Institutions, Real Estate and Securities Committee:
Widener (R) (Chair) (614) 466-1470
Evans (R) (Vice Chair) (614) 466-1366
Bacon (R) (614) 644-6030
Batchelder (R) (614) 466-8140 (sponsor)
Daniels (R) (614) 466-3506
Gibbs (R) (614) 466-2994
Hite (R) (614) 466-3819
J. Stewart (R) (614) 466-2158
Patton (R) (614) 466-4895
Schindel (R) (614) 644-6074
Wagoner (R) (614) 466-1731
Zehringer (R) (614) 466-6344
Budish (Ranking minority Member) (D) (614) 466-5441 (sponsor)
Book (D) (614) 466-2124
D. Stewart (D) (614) 466-1896 (sponsor)
Dodd (D) (614) 466-2500
Goyal (D) (614) 466-5802 (sponsor)
Healy (D) (614) 466-8030 (sponsor)
Koziura (D) (614) 466-5141 (sponsor)
Miller (D) (614) 466-7954
S. Williams (D) (614) 466-1414 (sponsor)
Sayre (D) (614) 466-8035 (sponsor)
Szollosi (D) (614) 466-1418
