UPDATED Monday, March 1, 2010 --- 8:50 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A new analysis shows that lobbyists for the payday lending industry funneled more than $28,000 in campaign contributions to Wisconsin lawmakers in the last half of 2009.

The report by the government watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows that $5,000 in contributions came from executives of Check 'n Go in Cincinnati. Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan was dating a lobbyist for that company during the time the Assembly was considering a bill the payday loan industry, including Check N Go, opposes.

The contributions were made to four campaign committees that raise and spend money to get Republicans and Democrats in both the Assembly and Senate elected. Sheridan controls the Assembly Democratic committee.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 16, 2010 --- 11:16 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin would no longer be the "Wild West" of payday lending under an Assembly bill approved Tuesday evening to regulate the industry for the first time.

Supporters said the bill, approved after hours of debate and closed-door discussions, would outlaw the industry's most abusive practices while preserving the short-term loans for those who need them.

Critics hit the bill from two angles. Some said the proposed rules were too strict and would hurt existing lenders and take away the payday loan option for some consumers.

But other critics said the bill was too lenient because it does not include a cap on the interest rate lenders can charge. The Assembly voted down a plan to impose a 36 percent rate cap.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Wednesday, February 10, 2010 --- 12:11 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Assembly Republicans are accusing Democrats of rushing through a bill to regulate the payday loan industry in Wisconsin.

The Assembly committee on financial institutions voted 6-5 along party lines to support the plan that would cap loans at $600, allow borrowers to take out one payday loan at a time and ban auto title loans.

The full Assembly could pass the bill as early as Tuesday.

Republican lawmakers argued the bill was flawed and the public should have more time to consider the plan unveiled late last week. Among other things, they raised concerns about a $1 fee that could be charged for each transaction to pay for a statewide database tracking the loans.

But Democrats said the industry desperately needs regulation, and accused Republicans of wanting to kill the bill.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 9. 2010 --- 11:15 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Payday lenders could not loan customers more than $600 at a time and would have to disclose all fees and interest rates under a revised Assembly bill.

The proposal unveiled Tuesday seeks to rein in the payday lending industry after years of virtually unchecked growth in Wisconsin. It comes less than two weeks after Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan admitted dating a lobbyist for the industry.

The plan would not put any cap on the annual interest rates that lenders could charge on loans, unlike a previous bill that would have limited them to 36 percent.

But lenders would be barred from "rolling over" a customer's outstanding loan into a new, larger loan, a practice that critics say traps the poor in a crushing debt cycle.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 9, 2010 --- 6:15 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Details of a proposal to increase regulations on payday lending in Wisconsin were slated to be unveiled less than two weeks after Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan admitted dating a lobbyist for the industry.

Democratic lawmakers who have been working on a compromise since October planned a Tuesday morning news conference to release details of the plan.

The status of the bill has come under greater scrutiny since Democratic Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan of Janesville admitted last month to dating a lobbyist who was working against more regulations.

Sheridan has denied that the relationship affected the status of the proposal.

Wisconsin is the only state that does not set a rate cap for payday lenders, fueling rapid growth of the industry.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Thursday, September 17, 2009 --- 8:30 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A national group is urging Wisconsin lawmakers to pass a bill that caps interest rates on payday loans at 36 percent.

Jennifer Johnson, an attorney with the Center for Responsible Lending, told lawmakers Wednesday that interest rates can reach more than 500 percent on the loans in Wisconsin. The interest often amounts to $22 or more per $100 short-term loan.

Johnson says the loans are structured so that someone earning $35,000 a year typically cannot pay them back on time. She says the only effective way to stop "the abusive practices of this product" is by implementing a rate cap.

Payday lenders are fighting to defeat the 36 percent cap. They say it would kill their industry, denying consumers access to credit and eliminating jobs.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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UPDATED Thursday, September 10, 2009 --- 8:15 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A watchdog group says payday lenders trying to avoid tighter regulations donated more than $140,000 to the governor and legislative candidates last year.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says payday lenders have given an additional $28,000 in the first six months of this year as lawmakers consider tight regulations that would kill their business model.

Lawmakers are considering a plan that would prohibit lenders from charging more than 36 percent annual interest rates, which supporters say would protect consumers from predatory practices.

Industry groups say the bill would shut down existing lenders and take away a popular source of credit for consumers who need quick cash. They are mounting a lobbying blitz to defeat the bill.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Posted Thursday, May 28, 2009 -- 5:15pm
By Zac Schultz

Madison: You don't have to drive too far in Madison to find a payday loan store. You'll find them near troubled neighborhoods, three within a block of each other on East Washington Avenue, two on Park Street and one just a block off Allied Drive.

Their numbers have exploded in the last decade, from 17 in 1995 to more than 530 today.

Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) would like to see the numbers go down. "We're saying that it's wrong to take advantage of people in difficult or desperate situations with a system of abusive fees and charges designed to maximize profits from people who can least afford it."

They make money by giving small loans for high fees. Most loans need to be paid back in two weeks or the loan is rolled over for an additional fee.

Hintz says the average annual interest rate in Wisconsin is 525%. "I have people that call our offices that say, 'I took out a $200 loan, now owe several thousand dollars and it's crippled my life.'"

John Huebscher is the director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference. He says they deal with the fallout. "One-third of the families helped by the LaCrosse Catholic Charities in the debt management program is there in part because of a payday loan."

Rep. Hintz would cap interest at 36%.

Industry lobbyists say that could put them out of business.

"If the only way to stay open is to keep people in a perpetual cycle of debt, as a way to stay open, then I'm not sure they should be open," says Hintz.

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Posted Thursday, May 28, 2009 --- 11:40 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin lawmakers have introduced a bill meant to stop the growing and virtually unregulated payday lending industry.

Key Democratic lawmakers on Thursday promoted the plan that would prohibit lenders from charging more than 36 percent interest rates on loans.

Rep. Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, says some payday lenders charge up to 525 percent annual interest rate, or $20 for a two-week $100 loan. He says more than 500 payday lenders operate in Wisconsin.

Payday loans are small, short-term loans with high interest rates that amount to advances on a borrower's next paycheck. Supporters of the lenders say they are often the only access to credit for low-income people.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.