Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Payday Lending Bill Fails to Pass Georgia House

Expect arms to be sore from twisting over the weekend. With a vote of 84/84, HB 163, the bill to repeal the payday lending prohibition in Georgia, failed to pass the Georgia House today. The bill will be offered for reconsideration when the General Assembly re-convenes on Tuesday. This is good news for Georgia consumers. Groups like AARP fought hard to defeat this legislation. From what I understand, the chances of the bill making it through on Tuesday are dim. Some Democratic members who were not present today are expected to be on hand for Tuesday's vote.

But, the vote on this bill did not exactly split along party lines. To my disappointment, but not to my surprise, Rep. Al Williams, Rep. Tyrone Brooks and Rep. Able Mable Thomas took the well in support of the bill, and Rep. Sheila Jones voted for the bill as well. Some Republicans, including Rep. Burkhalter, voted against the bill. What a twist.

It is important to keep those calls and letter going to reps. We will need one more vote to put this one to bed... for this session.

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2 comments:

Tina said...

There is a lot of $$$$ involved in this particular mess, I fear. So glad it didn't pass the house.

Unknown said...

And although it deadlocked at 84-84, it really needs 91 votes (6 more + Glenn's) to pass the House. Time to look at who was absent and who might break under pressure.