February, 11 2016, 10:45am EDT
House Financial Services Committee Kowtows to Payday Industry in Washington While Ignoring Voters Back Home
Today, a House Financial Services Sub-Committee is hold a hearing called "Short-term, Small Dollar Lending: The CFPB's Assault on Access to Credit and Trampling of State and Tribal Sovereignty." In response to this sham hearing, Liz Ryan Murray, Policy Director at National People's Action, issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON
Today, a House Financial Services Sub-Committee is hold a hearing called "Short-term, Small Dollar Lending: The CFPB's Assault on Access to Credit and Trampling of State and Tribal Sovereignty." In response to this sham hearing, Liz Ryan Murray, Policy Director at National People's Action, issued the following statement:
Today's hearing is nothing more than a desperate effort by the payday industry and its Congressional mouthpieces to undermine sensible safeguards on small-dollar lending. The panels are a veritable who's who of elected leaders, academics, and lobbyists who are in the industry's pocket.
Congressman Randy Neugebauer and his fellow subcommittee members are holding this convening with a room full of Washington lobbyists because they know full well their constituents back home are appalled by triple digit-interest rates that trap families in an endless cycle of debt. In fact, a recent poll from Public Opinion Strategies showed that 82% of Republican caucus-goers in Iowa oppose triple digit payday loans, while 69% support protections for consumers. No wonder the members didn't hold this hearing back home. They know they'd be run right out of town.
It's time for the Congresspeople on the take from payday lenders to start listening to their constituents instead of bending over backward to protect the exorbitant profits predatory lenders strip from our communities each day.
To see just how much payday lenders have stripped from families since the CFPB first announced a rule-making process on small dollar lending, visit www.FamiliesCantWait.org. For general information on the destructive practices of the payday industry and for profiles of payday loan executives, visit www.PreyDayLenders.org. For more information, or to interview Liz Ryan Murray, please contact Jacob Swenson-Lengyel at jacob@npa-us.org or 312.316.3973.
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
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