Issue: Payday & Title Lending Reform

Alabama Arise unveils 2023 roadmap for change in Alabama

By Chris Sanders

Expanding Medicaid and ending the state sales tax on groceries will remain top goals on Alabama Arise’s 2023 legislative agenda. More than 400 members voted on Arise’s issue priorities in recent days after the organization’s annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion to make health coverage affordable for all Alabamians.
  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and capping the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
  • Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration, removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians, and other policies to expand and protect multiracial democracy in the state.
  • Criminal justice reform, including retroactive application of state sentencing guidelines and repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
  • Death penalty reform, including a law to require juries to be unanimous in any decision to impose a death sentence.
  • Public transportation to empower Alabamians with low incomes to stay connected to work, school, health care and their communities.
  • Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.

“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for everyone,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our 2023 issue priorities reflect the need to work together to break down policy barriers that keep people in poverty, and that disproportionately harm Black and Hispanic Alabamians. We must build a healthier, more just and more inclusive future for our state.”

Displaying Arise's 2023 Policy Priorities: Tax reform, Adequate state budgets, Voting rights, Criminal justice reform, Death penalty reform, Public transportation, Payday and title lending reform

The time is right to expand Medicaid in Alabama

One essential step toward a healthier future for Alabama is to ensure everyone can afford the health care they need. Arise members believe Medicaid expansion is a policy path to that destination, and research provides strong support for that position.

Expanding Medicaid would reduce racial health disparities and remove financial barriers to health care for more than 340,000 Alabamians. It would support thousands of new jobs across the state. And most importantly, it would save hundreds of lives every year.

Medicaid expansion would ensure health coverage for more than 220,000 Alabamians caught in the coverage gap. These residents earn too much to qualify for the state’s bare-bones Medicaid program but too little to afford private plans. Expansion also would benefit another 120,000 Alabamians who are stretching to pay for coverage they cannot readily afford.

Alabama is one of only 12 states that have not yet expanded Medicaid to cover adults with low incomes. But an Alabama Arise poll earlier this year found that more than seven in 10 Alabamians (71.5%) support Medicaid expansion. That figure included 65.8% of Republican voters.

“Medicaid expansion would boost our economy and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Alabamians,” Hyden said. “It’s time for Gov. Kay Ivey and lawmakers to say yes to the generous federal incentives for Medicaid expansion. Making this crucial investment in Alabamians’ well-being now will make our state better for decades to come.”

Why and how Alabama should untax groceries

Alabama’s state grocery tax makes it harder for people with low incomes to make ends meet. The tax adds hundreds of dollars a year to the cost of a basic necessity for families. And most states have abandoned it: Alabama is one of only three states with no sales tax break on groceries.

The state sales tax on groceries brings in roughly 6% of the Education Trust Fund’s annual revenue. But lawmakers have a path available to end the state grocery tax while protecting funding for public schools. Arise will continue to support legislation to untax groceries and replace the revenue by capping the state income tax deduction for federal income taxes (FIT).

The FIT deduction is a skewed tax break that overwhelmingly benefits the richest households. It is also exceedingly rare: Alabama is one of only two states to allow this deduction in full. The FIT deduction and grocery tax are two policies that contribute heavily to Alabama’s upside-down tax system. On average, Alabamians with low and moderate incomes must pay twice as much of what they make in state and local taxes as the richest households do.

“By untaxing groceries and capping the FIT deduction, lawmakers can make Alabama’s tax system more just and equitable,” Hyden said. “This plan would empower more families to keep food on the table while also protecting funding for our public schools. The Legislature should seize this opportunity to make life better for every Alabamian.”

Underregulated auto title loans are a bad deal for Alabamians

By Dev Wakeley

Alabama doesn’t know how many people lose their cars because of auto title loans every year. No agency collects data on title loans, which are treated as pawn transactions. But with annual percentage rates (APR) of 300% allowable under the state’s Pawn Shop Act, which governs title loans, the cost of these loans is far too high to justify.

From the lender’s perspective, a title loan is a completely safe transaction. Because title loans are backed (or secured) by ownership of the vehicle, the lender can never lose money. Secured loans, such as mortgages, usually carry lower interest rates because the lender doesn’t have the risk of losing money. But that isn’t the case with title loans.

If a title borrower defaults, the lender can simply take the car and sell it to get the money owed. Further, Alabama law allows the lender to keep all the money received at auction, even when the auction value of the vehicle is more than the amount owed.

Title loans can devastate family finances

Lack of legislative oversight means Alabamians pledging their vehicle title have the same lack of protection as someone pawning a TV or watch. But for many Alabamians, a vehicle is the most valuable asset they own.

In a state like Alabama with inadequate public transportation, a car is often the only way a person can see to their basic needs. Taking someone’s car because of a loan default means they can’t drive to work. They can’t drive to medical appointments. They can’t drive to pick up their kids from school.

Most states have realized that predatory title loans are a major drain on the finances and well-being of their residents. That’s why the majority of states have prohibited or restricted the practice. Even in states where the practice remains legal, borrowers usually have protections unavailable to Alabama borrowers.

Steps to rein in high-cost title loans in Alabama

Alabama has a menu of policy options to protect borrowers and rein in high-cost auto title lending. Those solutions include:

  • Cap the interest rates on all consumer loans in Alabama at 36% APR. This would relieve significant financial pressure on borrowers with low incomes.
  • Reduce the allowable APR on title loans to 36%. This would bring rate uniformity for small loans and help stop the worst abuses of borrowers.
  • Ensure borrowers get any amount received at auction beyond the loan amount owed. This would help limit Alabamians’ financial damage from defaults and the resulting loss of a vehicle.
  • Require title lenders to ensure borrowers’ ability to repay before making a loan. This would reduce the number of loans that result in vehicle repossession.
  • Give borrowers 60 days to cure defaults. This would better reflect the gravity of losing a car without significantly impacting lenders.
  • Create a statewide database of all title loans in Alabama, similar to the one that already exists for payday loans. This would provide additional data necessary to guide informed oversight of these businesses.

Bottom line

Auto title loans are harmful products that damage the financial health of their consumers. Alabama has failed to protect title loan borrowers or monitor title lenders in a meaningful way. A statewide loan database would be a good start toward informing legislators and the public of the system’s shortcomings. It also would build momentum for a rate cap and other major reforms needed to prevent financial abuse of Alabamians.

Payday lending harms families and communities across Alabama

By Dev Wakeley

Every year, underregulated payday lenders drain tens of millions of dollars from Alabama communities. These financial predators use some of that money to pay a fleet of lobbyists and fund legislative campaigns against reform. They have preserved the status quo even though nearly three in four Alabamians support abolishing predatory payday loans.

There are more payday and auto title lenders in Alabama than hospitals, high schools, movie theaters and county courthouses combined. Their business model depends on churning a profit out of desperate, financially fragile customers. And Alabama provides them with plenty. About 15% of Alabamians – nearly one in seven people in our state – live at or below the poverty line.

Payday lenders are on track to pull about $1 billion in fees out of Alabama communities over the next decade. Nearly all of their profits will flow to out-of-state companies. And these profits come out of the pockets of borrowers who already struggle to make ends meet. Until the Legislature acts, the scourge of predatory payday loans will continue to devastate thousands of family budgets and local economies.

Legalized usury

Many states have interest rate caps that prevent usury in lending generally. But in Alabama, payday loans aren’t governed by state laws that cover other loans. Instead, payday lenders are allowed to charge a $17.50 “loan origination” fee per $100 they lend. At the most common loan period of 14 days, this is an annual percentage rate (APR) of 456%.

Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have abolished predatory payday lending by setting interest rates far below Alabama’s rate. Many of those rate caps are 36% APR, which would match the allowable rate for other loans in Alabama. It also would match the rate cap that Congress set for military members and their families in 2006.

Other Southern states already have recognized the predatory nature of these businesses and stopped these abusive practices. Arkansas and Georgia both prohibit triple-digit interest rates, as the people of Alabama want the Legislature to do.

Straightforward solutions require political will

Alabama has a menu of policy options to protect borrowers and rein in high-cost payday lending. Those solutions include:

  • Cap the interest rates on all consumer loans in Alabama at 36% APR. This would broaden the protections that military borrowers already have to our entire population. This is Alabama Arise’s top legislative recommendation on this issue.
  • Allow borrowers to pay loans off in installments. This would help people reduce debt more gradually and sustainably instead of forcing them to pay a loan off all at once.
  • Cut the fee for originating a loan from the current $17.50 per $100. This change would lessen payday loans’ financial burden on borrowers.
  • Require payday lenders to ensure borrowers’ ability to repay before making a loan. This would reduce the risk that borrowers become trapped in cycles of deep debt.
  • Give borrowers 30 days to repay payday loans. This would cut the effective APR from 456% for a 14-day loan to about 220% for a 30-day loan.

Bottom line

Momentum for stronger consumer protections is building at the federal level, but a rate cap for payday loans is ultimately up to state lawmakers. Payday lending reform advocates must continue building public pressure and support to protect struggling families and strengthen communities across Alabama.

Alabama Arise unveils members’ 2022 roadmap for change

By Chris Sanders

Sentencing reform and voting rights expansion are two key goals on Alabama Arise’s 2022 legislative agenda. Members voted for Arise’s issue priorities this week after nearly 300 people attended the organization’s online annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
  • Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion to make health coverage affordable for all Alabamians.
  • Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration and removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians.
  • Criminal justice reform, including retroactive application of state sentencing guidelines and repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act.
  • Death penalty reform, including a law to require juries to be unanimous in any decision to impose a death sentence.
  • Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.
  • Public transportation to help Alabamians with low incomes stay connected to work, school, health care and their communities.

“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for all Alabamians,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “Our 2022 issue priorities would break down many of the policy barriers that keep people in poverty. We must build a more inclusive future for our state. And together, we will.”

Graphic listing Alabama Arise's 2022 issue priorities

The urgent need for criminal justice reform

Alabama’s criminal justice system is broken, and its prisons are violent and dangerously overcrowded. Exorbitant court fines and fees impose heavy burdens on thousands of families every year, taking a disproportionate toll on communities of color and families who already struggle to make ends meet. And Alabama needs investments in mental health care, substance use disorder treatment, community corrections and diversion programs to help stem the tide of mass incarceration.

Lawmakers’ plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new prisons is not an adequate solution to these problems. Alabama must enact meaningful sentencing and reentry reforms to make its corrections system more humane and effective. Legislators took a good first step during this week’s special session by passing a bill by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, to provide supervised release for everyone leaving prison in Alabama.

Many other needed changes still remain on the Legislature’s plate, however. One important priority is Hill’s proposal to allow judges to apply Alabama’s new sentencing guidelines retroactively. The House declined to vote on that bill this week, but Hill has promised to file it again in 2022. Hundreds of people would be eligible to apply for a reduced sentence if the measure passes.

Arise also will continue to work toward repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA), the state’s “three-strikes” law. The HFOA is a driver of sentencing disparities and prison overcrowding in Alabama. The law lengthens sentences for a felony conviction after a prior felony conviction, even when the prior offense was nonviolent. Hundreds of people in Alabama are serving life sentences for non-homicide crimes because of the HFOA. Thousands more have had their sentences increased as a result. Repealing the law would reduce prison overcrowding and end some of Alabama’s most abusive sentencing practices.

Protect and expand voting rights so every voice is heard

Arise members provided a resounding endorsement of efforts to protect and expand voting rights in Alabama. This includes support of federal legislation to prevent voter suppression and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. And it includes calls for numerous state-level improvements to promote greater civic engagement and increase access to voting.

One such improvement would be automatic voter registration (AVR) across Alabama. AVR would use information the state already has to register or update registrations electronically for hundreds of thousands of Alabamians. Another important step would be to ensure people who struggle to make ends meet are not denied the right to vote simply because they cannot afford court fines and fees.

“Our ability to progress as a state will be limited as long as any person or group is unable to exercise their constitutional right to vote,” Hyden said. “We urge Alabama lawmakers to protect and expand voting rights by instituting automatic voter registration and lifting barriers to voting rights restoration.”

How Alabama Arise is working to build a brighter future after the pandemic

By Chris Sanders

After a year of darkness, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally in sight. Promising vaccine news offers hope that public health officials can rein in COVID-19 in the coming months. And as our state and nation seek policy solutions to rebuild from the pandemic’s health and economic devastation, Alabama Arise will seek to advance equity and shared prosperity for Alabamians who are marginalized and excluded.

That vital work won’t be fast or easy. In the meantime, the pandemic’s harrowing toll continues to grow. COVID-19 has killed more than 1.5 million people worldwide, including more than 3,900 Alabamians, and sickened tens of millions. It has fueled a deep recession, caused millions of layoffs and left more than 40% of U.S. children living in households struggling to make ends meet. It has stretched hospitals to the breaking point and disrupted education, commerce and social interactions in every community.

The Alabama Legislature will begin its 2021 regular session Feb. 2. As the health and economic tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to mount, Alabama Arise will keep working hard to empower people who live in poverty and to lift up their voices in state policy debates.

COVID-19 has created suffering on a staggering scale. It also has highlighted long-standing economic and racial disparities and underscored the urgency of ending them. A new legislative session and a new presidency will offer new opportunities to right those wrongs in 2021 and beyond.

The federal and state work ahead

The most immediate needs will require federal action. Congress must extend state aid and additional unemployment insurance (UI) benefits before they expire this month. But those extensions should be just a down payment on a more comprehensive response.

Arise will urge further UI benefit increases and more federal relief to help states avoid layoffs and damaging cuts. We also will advocate for emergency rental and mortgage assistance and a 15% boost to food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). And we’ll support regulatory efforts to lift harmful Medicaid and SNAP barriers created in recent years.

Flyer on Alabama Arise's 2021 issue priorities. For more information, visit https://www.alarise.org/news-releases/alabama-arise-unveils-members-2021-roadmap-for-change.

We’ll also keep working for better state policies when the Legislature returns in February. Our top focus will be Medicaid expansion, which we’ll pursue along with partners in the Cover Alabama Coalition. Expansion would cover more than 340,000 Alabamians with low incomes and ease the financial strain on rural hospitals. It also would attack structural health care disparities that led COVID-19 to take a disproportionate toll on Black Alabamians.

Arise’s work won’t stop there. We’ll support legislation to expand voting rights and ensure broadband internet access for all Alabamians. We’ll seek to increase consumer protections and overhaul the state’s criminal justice system. And we’ll fight to untax groceries once and for all.

Breakthroughs on many of these issues won’t be fast or easy. But together, we’ll emerge from dark times into the light of a brighter, more inclusive future for Alabama.

Alabama Arise unveils members’ 2021 roadmap for change

By Chris Sanders

Sentencing reform and universal broadband access are two new goals on Alabama Arise’s 2021 legislative agenda. Members voted for Arise’s issue priorities this week after nearly 300 people attended the organization’s online annual meeting Saturday. The seven issues chosen were:

  • Tax reform, including untaxing groceries and ending the state’s upside-down deduction for federal income taxes, which overwhelmingly benefits rich households.
  • Adequate budgets for human services like education, health care and child care, including Medicaid expansion and extension of pre-K to serve all eligible Alabama children.
  • Criminal justice reform, including repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act and changes to civil asset forfeiture policies.
  • Voting rights, including automatic universal voter registration and removal of barriers to voting rights restoration for disenfranchised Alabamians.
  • Payday and title lending reform to protect consumers from getting trapped in debt.
  • Death penalty reform, including a law to require juries to be unanimous in any decision to impose a death sentence.
  • Universal broadband access to help Alabamians who have low incomes or live in rural areas stay connected to work, school and health care.

“Arise believes in dignity, equity and justice for all Alabamians,” Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden said. “And our 2021 issue priorities would break down many of the policy barriers that keep people in poverty. We can and will build a more inclusive future for our state.”

Graphic naming Alabama Arise's 2021 issue priorities

The urgent need for criminal justice reform

Alabama’s criminal justice system is broken and in desperate need of repair. The state’s prisons are violent and dangerously overcrowded. Exorbitant court fines and fees impose heavy burdens on thousands of families every year, taking a disproportionate toll on communities of color and families who are already struggling to make ends meet. And Alabama’s civil asset forfeiture policies let law enforcement seize people’s property even if they aren’t charged with a crime.

Arise will continue to seek needed reforms in those areas in the coming year. The organization also will work for repeal of the Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA), the state’s “three-strikes” law. The HFOA is an unjust driver of sentencing disparities and prison overcrowding in Alabama. The law lengthens sentences for a felony conviction after a prior felony conviction, even when the prior offense was nonviolent. Hundreds of people in Alabama are serving life sentences for non-homicide crimes because of the HFOA. Thousands more have had their sentences increased as a result. Repealing the law would reduce prison overcrowding and end some of Alabama’s most abusive sentencing practices.

Universal broadband access would help struggling Alabamians stay connected

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the essential role that the internet plays in modern life. Remote work, education, health care and shopping are a reality for millions in our state today. But far too many Alabamians, especially in rural areas, can’t access the high-speed broadband that these services require. These access challenges also reveal a racial disparity: About 10% each of Black and Latino households have no internet subscription, compared to 6% of white households.

Policy solutions can facilitate the investments needed to ensure all Alabamians can stay connected. Lawmakers can help by guaranteeing that all communities have the right to own, operate or deploy their own broadband services. The Legislature also can enact targeted and transparent tax credits to promote broadband for underserved populations.

Town Hall Tuesdays 2020: What we heard from Arise supporters

By Presdelane Harris

Listening is often an underdeveloped skill, yet it is critical for mutual understanding and working together for meaningful change. That’s why Arise is committed to listening to our members, to our allies and most importantly, to those directly affected by the work we do together. We depend on what we hear from you to guide our issue work and our strategies.

This year’s COVID-19 pandemic challenged us to be creative in finding ways to listen. Instead of our usual face-to-face meetings around the state, we hosted a series of six statewide online Town Hall Tuesdays. We held events every two weeks, starting in June and ending Sept. 1. We averaged 65 attendees at each session. Here’s some of what we heard from members and supporters:

  • Affirmation for Medicaid expansion, untaxing groceries and other current Arise issues as important for achieving shared prosperity.
  • Empathy for those who were already living in vulnerable circumstances further strained by the pandemic.
  • Concern about ongoing, intentional barriers to voting, especially during the pandemic.
  • Desire to see more resources to meet the needs of our immigrant neighbors.
  • Alarm about payday and title lending and its impact on people’s lives and our communities.
  • Passion and concern about many other issues, including housing; living wages and pay equity; prison and sentencing reform; gun safety; juvenile justice reform; defunding the police; the Census; environmental justice; quality and funding of public education; and food insecurity and nutrition.
  • Willingness to take informed actions to make a difference in the policies that impact people’s lives.
  • Hope that Alabama can be a better place for all our neighbors to live despite systemic issues and ongoing challenges.

Notes from each town hall

Overviews of the town halls are below. Click the title for a PDF of the notes from the breakout sessions at each town hall.

June 23 – Money talks
We examined how to strengthen education, health care, child care and other services that help Alabamians make ends meet. And we explored ways to fund those services more equitably.

July 7 – Justice for all
We discussed Alabama’s unjust criminal justice system and how to fix it.

July 21 – Getting civic
Discussion focused on protecting voting rights and boosting Census responses during a pandemic.

Aug. 4 – Shared prosperity
We looked at policy solutions to boost opportunity and protect families from economic exploitation.

Aug. 18 – Feeding our families
We explored ways to increase household food security during and after the recession.

Sept. 1 – Closing the coverage gap
Discussion focused on how everyone can help expand Medicaid to ensure coverage for hundreds of thousands of struggling Alabamians. We also heard about the expansion campaign strategies of the Cover Alabama Coalition, headed by Arise campaign director Jane Adams.

Get in touch and stay in touch with Arise

Remember, we didn’t stop listening because the town halls ended. We want to hear from you, and we encourage you to contact the Arise organizer in your area:

We hope to see you at Arise’s online annual meeting Oct. 3!

You’re invited to Arise’s Town Hall Tuesdays!

By Presdelane Harris

Arise’s statewide online summer listening sessions are a chance to hear what’s happening on key state policy issues and share your vision for our 2021 policy agenda. Register now to help identify emerging issues and inform our work to build a better Alabama.

We’d love to see you at any or all of these sessions! Registration is required, so please register at the link under each description.

June 23rd, 6 p.m. – Money talks

How can we strengthen education, health care, child care and other services that help Alabamians make ends meet? And how can we fund those services more equitably? Click here to register for this session.

July 7th, 6 p.m. – Justice for all

We’ll discuss Alabama’s unjust criminal justice system – and how to fix it. Click here to register for this session.

July 21st, 6 p.m. – Getting civic

How can we protect voting rights and boost Census responses during a pandemic? Click here to register for this session.

August 4th, 6 p.m. – Shared prosperity

Policy solutions can boost opportunity and protect families from economic exploitation. Click here to register for this session.

August 18th, 6 p.m. – Feeding our families

How can we increase household food security during and after the recession? Click here to register for this session.

September 1st, 6 p.m. – Closing the coverage gap

Join the Cover Alabama Coalition to discuss how you can help expand Medicaid. Click here to register for this session.

Protection from predatory lenders should be part of Alabama’s COVID-19 response

By Dev Wakeley

While COVID-19 forces Alabamians to deal with health concerns, job losses and drastic disruption of everyday life, predatory lenders stand ready to take advantage of their misfortune. Our state policymakers should act to protect borrowers before these harmful loans make the pandemic’s financial devastation even worse.

The volume of high-cost payday loans, which can carry annual percentage rates (APRs) of 456% in Alabama, has decreased temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. But that is simply because payday lenders require a person to have a job to get a loan. The national unemployment rate jumped to nearly 15% in April, and it may be higher than 20% now. In a sad twist, job losses are the only thing separating some Alabamians from financial ruin due to payday loans.

Title loans: A different kind of financial poison

As payday loan numbers have dropped, some borrowers probably have shifted to auto title loans instead. But title loans are just a different, and arguably even worse, kind of financial poison.

Like payday lenders, title lenders can charge triple-digit rates – up to 300% APR. But title lenders also use a borrower’s car title as collateral for the loan. If a borrower can’t repay, the lender can keep the vehicle’s whole value, even if it exceeds the amount owed.

The scope of this problem in our state is unknown. Alabama has a statewide payday loan database, but no similar reporting requirements exist for title lenders. That means the public has no way to know how many people are stuck in title loan debt traps.

Title lenders in Alabama don’t require people to be employed to take out a loan with their vehicle as collateral. People who have lost their jobs and feel they lack other options can find themselves paying exorbitant interest rates. And they can lose the transportation they need to perform daily tasks and provide for their families.

Federal and state governments can and should protect borrowers

Long after people who lost their jobs return to work, the financial damage from the pandemic will linger. Bills will pile up, and temporary protections against evictions and mortgage foreclosures likely will disappear. Some struggling Alabamians will turn to high-cost payday or title loans in desperation to pay for rent or utilities. If nothing changes, many of them will end up pulled into financial quicksand, spiraling into deep debt with no bottom.

State and federal governments both can provide protections to prevent this outcome. At the federal level, Congress should include the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act (VCFCA) in its next COVID-19 response. The VCFCA would cap payday loan rates at 36% APR for veterans and all other consumers. This is the same cap now in effect under the Military Lending Act for active-duty military personnel and their families.

At the state level, Alabama needs to increase transparency and give borrowers more time to repay. A good first step would be to require title lenders to operate under the same reporting duties that payday lenders do. Enacting the 30 Days to Pay bill or a similar measure would be another meaningful consumer protection.

The Legislature had an opportunity before the pandemic hit Alabama this year to pass 30 Days to Pay legislation. SB 58, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would have guaranteed borrowers 30 days to repay payday loans, up from as few as 10 days under current law. But the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, chaired by Shay Shelnutt, R-Trussville, voted 8-6 against the bill early in the session.

That narrow vote came after the committee canceled a planned public hearing without advance notice. It also happened on a day when Orr was unavailable to speak on the bill’s behalf.

Alabamians want consumer protections

Despite the Legislature’s inaction, the people of Alabama strongly support reform of these harmful loans. Nearly three in four Alabamians want to extend payday loan terms and limit their rates. More than half support banning payday lending entirely.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare many deficiencies in past state policy decisions. And Alabama’s lack of meaningful consumer protections continues to harm thousands of people every year. The Legislature has the opportunity and the obligation to fix these past mistakes. Our state officials should protect Alabamians, not the profit margins of abusive out-of-state companies.

Arise legislative recap: Feb. 14, 2020

By Matt Okarmus

Alabama borrowers suffered a setback Wednesday when a Senate committee blocked a payday lending reform bill. Policy analyst Dev Wakeley talks about what happened and where we go from here.