Consumer loans
Eight years after Arizonans voted to kill payday lending, the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday voted 6-3 to allow a new kind of high-interest loan to be offered in the state.
With few exceptions, state law limits interest to no more than 36 percent a year. HB 1316 permits lenders to charge up to 15 percent a month β 17 percent if thereβs no collateral β on loans between $500 and $2,500 for up to two years.
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said the measure meets a need of people who have no credit history, limited income but may have an emergency like a broken air conditioner or a prescription that needs to be picked up.
Kavanagh also said that successfully repaying one of these loans would help individuals establish a credit history.
But Dan Torrington of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Tucson said someone borrowing $2,500 would end up paying more than $10,441 over the two-year loan. βThereβs no way you could say this is not a debt trap.ββ
Food stamps
Ignoring thereβs no cost to the state, the House voted Monday to cut food stamps for up to 120,000 people.
The benefits, more formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, generally are provided based on income. But the state has obtained waivers to allow some others to qualify automatically, such as families who get Supplemental Security Income and childless adults who live in counties with high unemployment.
HB 2596 would prohibit the state from seeking new waivers or renewing those that now exist when they expire.
State Rep. Justin Olson, R-Mesa, said the problem with programs like this is they create a dependence on government handouts. He said reform programs would result in βstrengthening families, strengthening communities, strengthening individuals and giving them that helping hand up and helping them become productive members of society and decreasing dependency.β
There is a price tag in making the change. State Rep. Stefanie Mach, D-Tucson, cited a provision that requires the state to issue new electronic benefit cards with the pictures of eligible recipients, a move she said will cost $12,000.
The measure needs a roll-call vote before going to the Senate.
Service animals
Without dissent the Senate voted Monday to impose new requirements on service animals.
Existing law says only dogs and miniature horses qualify. SB 1166 would require they be on a leash or harnessed in most circumstances.
Federal law does not permit business owners to ask people what disability they have that requires the use of a service animal. But the legislation wold permit them to inquire exactly what work or task the animal has been trained to perform.
Businesses would be free to exclude animals that are out of control or not housebroken. And individuals who fraudulently claim a dog or miniature horse is a service animal would be subject to fines and/or a jail term. The measure now goes to the House.
Guns
The House approved two measures dealing with guns.
HB 2338, approved 35-24, crafts an exemption from existing laws that allow state universities and community colleges to keep firearms off their campuses. Those rules would not apply to anyone who is walking or driving on a public street, road, alley or other publicly accessible and maintained right-of-way that runs through a campus.
Guns would still be forbidden on school property.
Separately, the House voted for HB 2300, which would make it illegal for any state or local agency or public employee to βknowingly and willinglyβ enforce any new federal laws on guns or ammunition. The same law would cut off state aid to any community that cooperated with federal agencies in enforcing those laws.
Both measures now go to the Senate.
