Fresh off the heels of the introduction of legislation that would cap the interest rate that can be charged by payday loan companies comes a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have more than doubled their contributions to state lawmakers in the past year:
Payday lenders doled out more than $140,000 last year to Gov. Jim Doyle and candidates for the Legislature as lenders braced for attempts to regulate their industry, according to a report released Wednesday by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
That’s far more than the industry gave in the past decade. Before last year, the most the industry spent on state campaigns was $59,800 in 2002 – less than half as much as last year’s giving.
In the first half of this year, the industry has put $28,570 toward campaigns, according to the Democracy Campaign, a group that tracks political spending and advocates for publicly financing campaigns.
In addition, at least 27 lobbyists have been hired by the industry, the Journal Sentinel reported last month.
Hopefully payday loan stores won’t be able to buy their way out of a little regulation, because a little regulation of consumer interest rates could go a long way towards reducing predatory lending in Wisconsin.
Gee, I wonder from whom they got all that money to contribute…oh, I know, hard working people of modest means caught in their trap