Senate Committee hears testimony over bill that would closely regulate payday loans

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Intro:	A Senate committee heard testinomny for a House-passed payday loan bill that tightens regulations for the loans.
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Wrap: Under the bill, the number of rollovers would be cut from six to three and would require consumers to wait one day after paying off a loan to get another.

The bill's sponsor Republican Representative Ellen Brandom says the extended 60 day pay-back period will help consumers struggling to pay back a loan.

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Description: "The purpose of our committee was to find additional protections for the consumers of payday loan companies but at the same time not putting payday loan companies out of business."

Opponents of the bill disagree, saying it doesn't have meaningful reform and the annual percentage rates are still too high.

The Senate committee Chair says the vote on the bill will come later in the week.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Emily Kissee.

Intro:	A Senate committee is scheduled to vote later in the week on a bill that more closely regulates payday loans.
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Wrap: The bill would cut the number of renewals a person could get from six to three and would require consumers to have a one day "cooling-off period" before taking out another loan.

Boone County's Democratic Representative Mary Still says the new cap would still leave Missouri with the highest annual percentage rate in the country.

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Description: "In Missouri, currently, the average APR is, for people getting loans is 445 percent, so a cap of 1,064 percent doesn't really change the status quo, we would still have the highest APR in the country."

However, supporters say the bill provides more information about payday loans to consumers.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Emily Kissee.

Intro:	Opponents at a Senate hearing for a House-passed payday loan bill say the measure doesn't go far enough.
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Wrap: The bill would cap the annual percentage rate at 1564 percent and cut the number of renewals a person could get by half.

The Missouri Catholic Conference Executive Director Mike Hoey says even with limiting payday loans to three renewals, consumers would still have to pay higher fees.

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Description: We do not consider this to be meaningful reform. We handed out this chart which shows what happens over three renewals; you can end up paying 60 percent in fees on the original loan amount, that is not reform."

However, supporters say the bill's one day "cooling-off period" in between loans protects consumers.

The Senate committee Chair says the vote on the bill will be later in the week.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Emily Kissee.