|
M. WARNER ADDS HIS SUPPORT FOR LIMITS ON PAYDAY LENDING By Jeff E. Schapiro Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Following the lead of the Republican who wants to oppose him for the U.S. Senate, the former Virginia governor who opened the state to payday lenders six years ago now favors restrictions on money stores. "He is definitely supportive of the move toward additional regulation," said Kevin Hall, spokesman for former Gov. Mark R. Warner, the presumed Democratic Senate nominee. Former Gov. Jim Gilmore, seeking the GOP nomination, has endorsed a House-written clampdown on the payday lenders that the industry claims will put it out of business. Without specifying a rate, Hall said yesterday that Warner supports an interest cap on high-cost instant loans to Virginia residents. Warner backs the 36-percent limit set by Congress on payday loans to military personnel. Hall would not say whether Warner -- who has traveled in the private jet of a giant lender, though he paid to do so -- would support a feature in the House measure limiting loans to five per year and no more than one at a time. Lenders -- who employ 2,400 in about 800 stores in Virginia -- say this would force cash outlets to close. Gilmore described payday lending as deceptive, adding that spiraling personal debt attributed to the loans is another threat to the Virginia economy. Warner signed the payday-lending law even though the General Assembly, bowing to the industry, rejected his proposal to require a state study of high-cost instant loans as a step toward further restrictions. "Mark Warner's decision to adopt this policy was wrong and ultimately the people of Virginia have rejected it," Gilmore said.
|
|
Presbytery of the James |