Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on Idaho having the highest interest rates in the nation for payday loans, at 582 percent, and how payday loan reform legislation passed by this year’s Legislature won’t change that. Washington’s average percentage rate for payday loans is 192 percent, because of additional restrictions that state places on payday lending businesses. Idaho is one of just seven states with no limits on interest charges or fees.

This year’s legislation was highly controversial, with numerous groups opposing it for not going far enough to reform the business in Idaho, and major payday lenders backing it as a “progressive” move to protect consumers. But many of the lawmakers who voted against the bill thought it went too far. Said Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, “I don’t think it’s government’s role to protect people from themselves.”