In the final hours of the House debate on SB 737, - the payday lending bill which originally capped interest rates was changed to focus on a set of industry sponsored "reforms". These provisions are actually worse than the status quo since the new measures embed payday lending in new parts of the Hawaii state laws making it that much harder to make real reform later.
Please pass a 36% cap on pay day lending - if it is good for military families its good for local working families too!
Why is this important?
Too many local families are getting caught in the debt cycle to leave this industry unregulated. This debt is bad for families and bad for the local economy. People I know and love have been hurt badly by these loans - and not just in the pocket book. The stress these loans have placed on family stability is really tough to see.
