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We have just finished week two in Richmond. All budget bills had to be in by five o’clock Thursday, and regular bills by five o’clock Friday.
This week we passed several resolutions; I will highlight a few. The House designated February 6, beginning this year, as Ronald Reagan Day. We also designated March as Brain Injury Awareness Month. Brain injuries have become a major concern in Virginia due to the increasing number of high impact car accidents and soldiers returning from war zones. April 27 through May 3, 2008, has been designated as Plumbing Industry Week, and October as Dyslexia Awareness Month. A Resolution was passed recognizing the historic value and importance of the last known wild herd of Spanish Mustangs, right here in the Commonwealth. As part of the House Republican agenda to promote good health care policies, I co-patroned Delegate Steve Landes’ House Bill 85, which establishes a program for the donation and redistribution of prescription medications. It authorizes pharmacies to accept prescription medications – other than controlled substances – and allows them to dispense medications to clinics providing health care to the indigent. This week we also passed bills to remove from the Code of Virginia certain articles which no longer are needed to operate the state. This is an effort to clean up the code by getting rid of outdated laws. Once again, one of the most controversial issues this session is payday lending. There are several bills being entered to continue making reforms in this area. I want to share with you the pros and cons as I listen to both sides of this issue. More than 95% of payday lending customers pay back their loans on time. Most use payday loans to cover unexpected expenses or a temporary reduction in income. Banks and credit unions, unlike payday lenders, typically do not offer 100 to 500 dollar loans for short periods. In fact, credit unions even require a membership and a minimum balance to qualify for a loan. Before payday loans, many people were forced to borrow from family or friends, unregulated off-shore internet lenders, illegal loan sharks, or bounce checks and fall into bankruptcy. Unlike credit cards, payday lenders may only charge fifteen dollars for every 100 dollars borrowed; the average late fee for 100 dollars on a credit card is thirty-seven dollars. Over 3000 people now work for payday lenders, and over 44,000 people have borrowed from payday lenders this year. All companies in Virginia are willing to work with customers to allow several months to repay the loan without added interest. Georgia and North Carolina have outlawed payday credit. Since then, these states have bounced more checks, complained more about lenders and debt collectors, and have filed at a higher rate for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, according to the New York Federal Reserve Bank Report, November 2007. Those against all payday lenders believe they are predators who take advantage of people who have difficulty managing their personal finances. They believe there should be a 36% cap on any payday loan. They say people have survived without these payday loans before their inception six years ago, and can survive without them today. Many of these customers cannot pay back their loans and are forced to take out new loans to pay back the original loans, thus creating a vicious cycle. I invite my constituents to e-mail us at
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or call us at (804) 698-1006 to voice their opinions.
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