A traitor in my midst

This is the kind of thing that leads to legislation like 2871. The Center for Responsible Lending scored an interview with a former manager for one of my payday loan shops. She sang like a bird.

Watch the video here.

Hey there,

Now I'm tracking two payday loan bills - House Bill 2871, which will cap interest rates payday, car title, and consumer finance loans. Within the last hour it was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee. This makes me extremely cranky.

I've managed to kill 14 other interest rate caps in 14 other states. But here they've got a Democratic Speaker of the House, Jeff Merkley, who has a fir in his belly about making sure consumers don't get ripped off. He's been a stick in my craw for years, but now that he's speaker, he can do some real damage.

If this bill passes the Senate, all of my plans to use loopholes to protect my business model will crumble. This bill caps interest rates to 30 percent + the current Federal Reserve Discount Rate. That means bye-bye 500 percent interest and bye-bye guaranteed repeat loans from people who can't afford to pay off the loans they took out for quick emergency cash.

Like I said, this bill makes me cranky.

Next up before this committee is House Bill 2005, which will add underwriting requirements to payday lending. This is a disaster.

Hey there,

As my good friend Mr. Butts said, I am really having to shake my fin in Salem this year. There are several bills pending that would cut into my bottom line and many are having hearings today.

Right now I am monitoring Senate Bill 965 and amendments which would limit the prepayment penalties I can charge for subprime loans and would force me to provide some sort of benefit to the borrower in order to refinance a loan.

Doesn't sound like much, does it? But here's the thing...those two provisions go after some of my main profit centers.

And I'm ready. I've got the hearing room just PACKED with mortgage brokers. They are testifying one after another about how Senate Bill 965 will put them out of business.

It won't, of course. Many many states with thriving subprime mortgage markets have much more strict regulations. Oregon is a great place for me - it currently ranks at the bottom when it comes to offering protections from abusive practices of subprime lending. In reality, I know Oregon subprime lenders will continue to operate and thrive under Senate Bill 965 – in fact more than 80 percent of subprime lenders in Oregon also operate in New Mexico and North Carolina.

But if Mr. Butts can say smoking doesn't cause cancer, I can say SB 965 will shut me down. Fair's fair.

Sharing my blog

Since I'm going to be offline for awhile shoring up my Republican friends, I'm going to turn my blog over to a friend of mine, Mr. Loan Shark.

Mr. Loan Shark has had a difficult time of it this session. The Democratic lawmakers have been going after his core business practices: payday lending, car title lending and subprime mortgages. He's dealing with two hearings today and he wants to make sure his side of the story is heard. I'm happy to comply.

Take it away, Mr. Loan Shark.

I don't like where this is headed

Yesterday the Senate Rules Committee passed the bill that refers a constitutional amendment to increase the Oregon tobacco tax to the voters this next November.

I'm just beside myself. This means the horse is out of the barn and makes it more likely that the tobacco tax will be raised. In fact, it nearly guarantees it.

Republican leader Wayne Scott is holding firm, though. Here's what he told the Oregonian newspaper:

"House Minority Leader Wayne Scott, R-Canby, said it would be 'dead wrong' to refer the tobacco tax increase to the ballot. 'It's our job to make the decisions,' he said. 'I think we do a disservice here by referring it to voters.'"

Word.

Meanwhile, the House Democratic leadership is also moving a referral. Theirs would require a super-majority vote, which needs they need five Republicans. Given that Healthy Kids is a top prority for Democrats, it's clear that I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

Go Mark!

Here comes Mark Nelson representing R. J. Reynolds and 7-11. My Man!

Mark starts with providing the Oregon smoker profile from the Center for Disease Control. He says that almost 62 percent of Oregonians who smoke earn under $35,000. Only 8% of Oregon smokers earn more than $75,000.

He tries to make the point that smokers would be subsidizing the health care costs.

Um…okay.

I've got to be honest here. Mark told me he was going to make this argument, and I guess it's okay, but frankly I don't think it's our best talking point. We already know that increasing the cost of cigarettes will lower smoking rates. So wouldn't a higher cigarette tax have a greater effect on lower income smokers and make them more likely to quit?

Mark, buddy, I was hoping you'd come up with something better.

Friends, I have to sign off now and will pick up reporting on the hearing a little later this evening.

Here we go - this tired old song

Again I say, consider the source. Senator / Doctor Alan Bates from Ashland is testifying in favor of the smoking cessation provisions of the Senate Plan.

"If there is one thing we can ddo to lower costs in health care and to save lives, it's to get people to quit smoking. You can forget about diet or obesity or any of those other things - the number one cause of death in America is smoking."

Yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah. Heard it all before.

But then he explains why me and my Republican friends are fighting so feircely against this legislation:

"We know that raising the cost of cigarettes makes young people less likely to actually start in the first place. The other thing we can do is implement plans to help people stop smoking."

Friends, that's in in a nutshell. That's why this bill matters.