PROMISING PROGRESS THWARTED TODAY ON PAYDAY LENDING

REFORM

House Republicans led effort to block reforms

COLUMBUS – April 11, 2018 – Just hours after House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger quit amidst troubling
revelations related to his associations with payday loan lobbyists, it is evident that the multi-billion
dollar payday lending industry is still getting help from House Republicans that have protected them for
years, now apparently being led by Rep. Dorothy Pelanda, Rep. Bill Seitz and Rep. Bill Blessing

Facing a set of compromise amendments that would have moved the bill forward, three committee
members enthusiastically filled the void Rosenberger left as the prime opponents of payday loan reform
in Ohio, causing yet another delay to a bill that has languished in the Ohio House for more than a year.

The bipartisan House Bill 123 (HB 123) calls for payday loan reforms similar to those overwhelmingly
approved by Ohio voters in 2008. Rosenberger kept that bill bottled up in committee, even as he
reportedly cavorted on a trip in Europe with lobbyists who have ties to the payday loan industry. News
reports have indicated that at least one of his trips to Europe was paid for in part by representatives of
the payday loan industry.
A meeting of the Ohio House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee today had earlier
held the promise that an amended HB 123 would finally be voted out of committee. Supporters of
reform believe that, while that amended version falls short of the broad, comprehensive reforms
contained within the originally submitted HB 123, it does include some welcome provisions that would
at least move the effort to reform forward.

House Republicans today continued their deplorable effort to block any type of comprehensive reform
bill from moving beyond committee. Rep. Pelanda today strongly urged her colleagues that the bill not
move forward.

“The trio of Pelanda, Seitz and Blessing carried the water today for payday lenders in Ohio,” said Carl
Ruby, a Springfield pastor and leader of Ohioans for Payday Loan Reform. “Today’s delay tactics are yet
another giveaway to the payday lending industry. This is deeply troubling. We are also very
disappointed that this committee lacks the courage to – after more than a year’s delay – enact the will
of the people and allow the full House to vote even on a compromise bill that was more lender friendly
than the original HB 123.

“What is it about the payday lenders and their army of lobbyists that so intimidates these alleged
representatives of the people? They have protected the industry for a decade and instead need to turn
their attention to the hundreds of thousands of Ohio families trapped in millions of dollars in debt each
year,” he added.
Payday lenders in Ohio charge the highest rates in the nation for payday loans, with a typical loan have
an APR of close to 600%.