How payday lending could change in Ohio, if a local lawmaker succeeds

State Representative Kyle Koehler testifies before the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee about the Payday Lending Reform bill in November 2017. JEFF GUERINI/STAFF

State Representative Kyle Koehler testifies before the House Government Accountability and Oversight Committee about the Payday Lending Reform bill in November 2017. JEFF GUERINI/STAFF

An Ohio House bill co-sponsored by a local representative that aims to regulate the payday loan industry passed out of committee.

Ohio House Bill 123, co-sponsored by Kyle Koehler, a Republican from Springfield, was approved to move to the House floor with a 9-1 vote in the Government Accountability and Oversight Committee.

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“We’ve worked on this for over a year and have been pushing for reform in payday loaning and hoping we can pass some regulations that can protect the consumer in the state of Ohio,” Koehler told the Springfield News-Sun.

The bill would require short-term payday lenders to lower the cost of borrowing from them, Koehler said.

The bill still needs to be passed by the House, a Senate committee and the Senate and be signed by the governor to become law.

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The bill doesn’t aim to eliminate payday lending altogether, Koehler said, but seeks to make lending practices fairer.

“There needs to be some reform in payday lending,” he said.”But we need to protect consumers in the state of Ohio who are in desperate need for this type of credit.”

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