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Small, fast loans often lead to a cycle of ever-deepening debt, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Lawmakers in New Mexico are considering whether to regulate the industry here further during the 2021 legislative session. Senate Bill 66 would cap the rates and fees so that they re in line with national averages with the aim of helping people in jeopardy avoid a pit of debt they can t climb out of. KUNM caught up with reporter Jeff Proctor to talk about the effort.
JEFF PROCTOR: Essentially what we re talking about here are what folks used to think of as payday loans and title loans. In other words, you could walk into a storefront with a paystub or the title to your vehicle and get a loan at an incredibly high interest rate because you needed cash right now. So that has existed in New Mexico for decades and decades. The industry often refers to these as installment loans you pay them back in installments, and the interest compounds over time.
Our democracy is being tested right now. It is not the first time. But it feels like a tipping point, and our very lives are in the balance. Can we find truth? Will we come to a place of peace? Can we resolve not to look the other way when the view is uncomfortable? Will those who stormed the Capitol, who aided and abetted seditionists, and who proliferated racism and dangerous lies, face punishment? Episode 18 is all about the fallout.
Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,
First, let us offer our congratulations on taking office. Not only did you both campaign arduously and effectively to be nominated and subsequently win the election, to keep it real, it was looking kinda dicey there a couple of weeks ago. Yet the process of our democracy prevailed even though it was surrounded by armed troops this time.