From [HERE] Members of Congress currently on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and theHouse Committee on Financial Services collectively received over $3.4 million from the payday lending industry during their time in Congress, according to OpenSecrets data. Of the 78 senators and representatives on the committees, just 11 received no contributions from payday lending members or affiliates.

Both committees are tasked with regulating the payday lending industry, and are considering legislation to do just that. The Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act, which would cap the interest rate on extensions of consumer credit at 36%, was introduced in the Senate Banking Committee bySen. Jack Reed (D-RI) in July 2021, and reintroduced in the House Committee on Financial Services in November 2021 by Reps. Jesus Garcia (D-IL) and Glenn Grothman (R-WI). 

As of Feb. 2021, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legislation capping interest rates at 36%. Watchdog organization Accountable.US said the legislation would help fight predatory lenders that “target communities of color” and benefit Black Americans, citing “nearly 190 consumer, civil rights, and other public interest groups.” Several members of the committee who have taken large amounts of money from the industry have opposed an interest rate cap, according to Accountable.US. 

Several members of Congress have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the payday lending industry including Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Al), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MI). Luetkeymeyer has, so far, received $39,000 from PACs and individuals affiliated with the payday lending industry during the 2022 election cycle — more than any other sitting member of Congress. While many of the top recipients of contributions from the payday lending industry have each held office for over a decade, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who served in the House from 2013 until she was elected to the Senate in 2019 through a special election, has received approximately $150,000 from the payday lending industry since she took office. 

In addition to pouring money into political contributions, the payday lending industry spent $4.2 million on lobbying in 2021, the highest it’s spent since 2017. In 2021, at least five companies and trade groups in the payday lending industry hired lobbyists for services that included lobbying on S.J. Resolution 15 — a bill to overturn a Trump-era rule that made it easier for non-bank lenders to issue loans through partnerships with national banks, according to Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

In October 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a “true lender” rule, which let non-bank lenders avoid state interest rate caps through partnerships with lenders. The Congressional Review Act was passed by the Senate in May 2021, and the House in June 2021, overturning the true lender rule.