Legislation that would put restrictions on payday loans in South Carolina is advancing in the State Senate. A Senate subcommittee approved a bill that would put new limits on lenders and borrowers.
The first provision calls for a “cooling off” period. Borrowers will not be allowed to get another payday loan for seven days. The idea is that borrowers will not use one payday loan to simply pay off another, thus perpetuating a debt cycle.
The second provision of the bill would restrict loan amounts to $600 or 25% of a borrowers monthly income, whichever is lower. The idea here is people will not be allowed to borrow more than they are able to pay back.
It seems that lawmakers in South Carolina have good intentions, but they are way off the mark. It simply is not the role of government to protect people from themselves.
There’s a lot of knives in my kitchen with potential to do me great harm when not used properly, but it’s silly to put restrictions on kitchen knives. How about baseball bats, weight sets, gardening tools and the lottery? All of these things serve a purpose, all of them can be used properly. Likewise, all of them can be misused and cause great harm. But we’re not banning them.
Payday loans are no different. Yes, it is a bad idea to borrow more than you can possibly pay back. But it is not the role of government to dictate to us what is and what isn’t too much for us to borrow. It is our responsibility to educate ourselves on our options and make an informed decision.
Now if I live in South Carolina and I don’t get paid until Friday,yet my car needs fixed today for $1,200, I’m out of luck. Unless I’m lucky and just have $1,200 sitting around. So not only can I no longer get to work to make money, I can’t do anything to get my car fixed until I get paid.
If the government wants to stop people from getting hurt, they shouldn’t sting the lenders, they should sting the borrowers. There’s literally a dozen or more responsible borrowers using payday loans correctly for every irresponsible borrower who isn’t.
So turn the irresponsible borrowers into responsible ones and problem solved. The government should be here to educate and inform, not dictate to us what is best for us. If foolish people want to do foolish things, no laws on earth will stop them. They will always find a way.
Don’t punish responsible borrowers for the foolish actions of the irresponsible borrowers. Shame on you South Carolina, you should know better. Don’t let this payday loans bill pass.
