Can't make them any more closed than they already are

That's Dustin McDaniel's response as to whether he'll include a payday lending bill as part of his '09 legislative package. McDaniel's recent directive to payday lenders is the subject of Andrew DeMillo's weekly column published yesterday. Legislation failed in the '07 session that would've interpreted the income payday lenders receive as interest, thus violating the Arkansas Constitution as it pertains to usuarious interest (Article 19, §13). Specifically, HB1036 of 2007 would've provided that check-cashers could not charge a fee in excess of 17% of the face amount of the check. Two recent post-legislative session Arkansas Supreme Court rulings have given McDaniel the basis to go after payday lenders.

Meanwhile, Mark Johnson writes in as a guest columnist in this morning's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about the payday lending industry, mentioning that until a few days ago, Arkansas had more payday lenders than McDonald’s locations.