Federalism at play

Last week, we reported on a call by a University of Nevada, Las Vegas law professor for Nevada’s state legislators to take another look at state laws on payday loan companies. He offered the warning after a study showed interest rates at Nevada firms in excess of 600 percent.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress—specifically, Reps. Trey Hollingsworth of Indiana and Patrick McHenry of North Carolina—have introduced bills that would overturn existing state laws that protect against payday loan companies. Attorneys general from 20 states have signed a letter saying the measures would “override state-granted protections in this important sphere of state regulation.”

This is at a time when Republicans say they are trying to protect state marijuana laws from federal marijuana laws (see news article at right).