In a victory for consumers, Washington D.C. effectively outlawed payday lending today with the passage of the Payday Loan Consumer Protection Act capping lending interest rates at 24%.

The bill was the focus of various lobbyist shenanigans, perhaps best encapsulated in the person of former mayor Marrion Barry, who, despite initially co-sponsoring the bill, today ended up casting the only vote against it. “”We are putting this industry out of business,” he said, concerned about the bills effect on they payday loan cartels and their employees.

Um, yeah, wasn’t that the whole point?

District of Columbia Passes Payday Lending Bill [CL&P Blog]

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