Yes on Issue 5 Collects Six New Newspaper Endorsements
COLUMBUS -- Newspapers and consumer groups from around Ohio continue to line up in support of a ballot issue to preserve Ohio's payday lending reform law and cap the annual interest on payday loans.
A majority YES vote on Issue 5 would limit the interest on payday loans to 28 percent annually. A majority NO vote on Issue 5 would allow payday lenders to continue charging 391 percent APR.
"Newspapers of all political persuasions agree that a YES vote on Issue 5 is a vote to support families, communities and businesses,'' said Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and a leader of the YES on Issue 5 campaign.
The latest newspaper endorsements come from the Cincinnati Enquirer, Youngstown Vindicator, Canton Repository, Dayton Daily News, Zanesville Times Recorder and the Medina Gazette. They join previous YES on Issue 5 endorsements from the Plain Dealer of Cleveland, Akron Beacon Journal, Lorain Morning Journal, Zanesville Register, the Communicator and the Dover-New Philadelphia Times Reporter.
In a Sunday editorial, the Cincinnati Enquirer <http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081019/EDIT01/810190349/1019/EDIT> decried the lenders' campaign of "distortion, misdirection and confusion,'' and said, "Passing the measure will let Ohio continue to rein in payday lending practices and abuses that have helped trap working Ohioans - about 300,000 last year alone, according to the Coalition for Responsible Lending - in a cycle of debt. Failure of Issue 5 would mean a return to the days when these storefront lenders could charge up to an annualized 391 percent interest for short-term loans.''
According to the Youngstown Vindicator <http://www.vindy.com/news/2008/oct/15/vote-yes-on-issue-5/> , payday lenders charge interest rates that "would make a neighborhood loan shark blush.''
The Dayton Daily News <http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/opinions/editorial/2008/10/16/sns101608editissue5.html?cxntlid=inform_artr> accused lenders of "airing ludicrous campaign commercials that would lead you to believe that Issue 5 is about creating and protecting jobs and that the proposal has something to do with the "mortgage mess" in Washington…. All of this is baloney.''
At the Canton Repository <http://www.cantonrepository.com/index.php?Category=3&ID=436350&r=1&subCategoryID=> , editorial writers noted that the payday industry is pressing for higher rates but said, "State legislators of both political parties and Gov. Ted Strickland were properly moved to action earlier this year by horror stories about borrowers who end up in a vicious cycle of debt.''
The Zanesville Times Recorder <http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081020/OPINION01/810200315> pointed out that Congress already has passed a law restricting the interest rates on payday loans to members of the armed forces and said, "If an interest rate cap is good enough for the fighting men and women of our nation, it's good enough for the rest of us, too.''
And today's Medina Gazette <http://wp2.medina-gazette.com/2008/10/20/opinion/yes-on-issue-5/> urged its readers to "say no to the payday lenders and yes to Issue 5…. Responsible leaders across the state support the payday-lending law; for instance, Democrat Richard Cordray and Republican Mike Crites, competing to become state attorney general, came together to support Issue 5.
In addition to newspapers, consumer and faith-based groups continue to urge their members to support Issue 5.
United Way chapters in Summit County and Central Ohio endorsed YES on Issue 5, saying it represents "fair small loan lending, protects borrowers from the exploitation of payday lenders and will safeguard the reforms pass in H.H. 545.''
Youngstown's Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance also urged its members to keep Ohio's reform law in place. In a prepared statement, the Alliance said, "God commands against charging interest on loans of money and other provisions, and Issue 5 will help prevent borrowers from becoming dependent on repeated borrowing.''
They join previous endorsers including AARP, Catholic Conference of Ohio, Ohio AFL-CIO, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Manufacturers' Association, Habitat for Humanity, Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and others.
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