Help Work to Sustain Veto of SB694, Bogus Bill to Reform Payday Loans

Veto Session to Convene in Jefferson City

The Missouri General Assembly will meet at the Capitol in Jefferson City beginning Wednesday, September 10, 2014, for the annual Veto Session.  Legislators will have the opportunity to vote on overriding any of the 30 bills vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon after the regular legislative session ended in May.

Consumers Council of Missouri is working to ensure that the veto of Senate Bill 694 be sustained should a motion be made to override it.

To read why Governor Nixon vetoed SB 694, click here.

To find out more about the bill and why the veto should be sustained, click here.

Help CCM by contacting your state legislators to uphold the veto: Click here.

Editorial Praises Veto; News Reports Detail Bill’s Many Defects

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 14, 2014

St. Louis Public Radio/The Beacon, July 11, 2014

Springfield News-Leader

Consumers Council Lauds Governor’s Veto of Bogus Payday Loan Reform Bill

ST. LOUIS, Mo., (July 10, 2014) — Governor Jay Nixon’s veto today of legislation purporting to reform the payday loan business is receiving approval from the statewide organization that represents interests of individual consumers.

“Governor Nixon has acted on behalf of the legions of people who have gotten snared by the debt trap set by the payday lending industry,” said Joan Bray, executive director of Consumers Council of Missouri.  “Proponents of the bill, Senate Bill 694, touted it as improving the current law in favor of consumers.

“But this bill was only window dressing.  If it became law it would postpone significant reform by enabling the industry to say it had made enough changes,” Bray added.  Nothing in the bill precluded a payday lender from entangling a consumer in long-term debt, she said.

She noted that Missouri is one of the last frontiers for predatory lending, with interests on some short-term loans approaching 2,000 percent and the average being 454 percent.

Bray said one significant deception in the bill appeared to curtail bullying and abusive behavior by bill collectors by referring to federal law.  But the federal law cited does not cover bill collectors, thereby making the provision worthless.

“That ruse was one of the major reasons we urged the governor to veto the bill.  He listened to everyone opposing this bill on behalf of consumers,” she said.