DC's long-simmering statehood push begins in Congress
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, testifies at the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing, on D.C. statehood, Monday, March 22, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. “We dare to believe that D.C. statehood is on the horizon,” said the District's long-serving, nonvoting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, who wrote the bill and said it has overwhelming support in the House. AdBowser spent much of Monday's four-hour hearing by the House oversight committee in a series of sometimes pointed exchanges with Republican committee members. AdBowser at the time quickly pointed out the ironies of Washington residents risking their lives to defend a Congress where they didn’t have a vote. “There's not a single Republican in Congress, in the House or the Senate, that supports this bill.”
Federal lawmakers aim to reduce payday loan rates from 400% interest to 36%
Instead, the Veterans and Consumers Fair Credit Act in the House would cap interest rates at 36% for all consumers. Specifically, this week's legislation would extend those protections to all consumers, capping interest rates on payday, car title and installment loans at 36%. Interest rates on payday loans are more than 20 times the average credit card APR. The payday loan landscapeLenders argue the high rates exist because payday loans are risky. More than 23 million people relied on at least one payday loan last year, according to financial research company Moebs Services.
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