Lobby Watch: Predatory Lenders Lavish $4.2 Million on Texas Pols

The predatory lending industry has spent a stunning $4.2 million on Texas politicians over the past two elections, including more than $1 million from Cash Store chief Trevor Ahlberg of Irving (25 percent of the total). These heavy political investments helped a defensive industry seize the offensive.

Check out the new Lobby Watch.

Lobby Watch: Politicians Cower in Payday-Loan Pockets

Predatory lenders stuffed Texas politicians in their back pockets by stuffing nearly $2.5 million in their bank accounts in the last election.  The payday industry is spending up to $3.8 million this legislative session on 77 lobbyists that have so far successfully shredded every meaningful reform bill.

Read the fine print at Lobby Watch.

Abbott Clobbers Davis in Race for Payday Lender Money

Predatory-lending interests have given $402,959 to Gregg Abbott and $10,500 to Wendy Davis since 2009. According to the most recent disclosure reports, payday interests have given Abbott $130,222 in 2014 while making no contributions to Davis.

Read TPJ's full analysis of predatory-lender contributions.

Texas Observer: The Upside Down World View of Payday Lenders

A revolving-door lobbyist for the payday loan industry attacked Texas consumer groups for blocking predatory-loan reforms in a March 15 Galveston News opinion piece. The Texas Observer’s Forrest Wilder does a good job of placing the payday industry’s worldview on a more stable axis.

Read Forrest Wilder's article at the Texas Observer.

Abbott Takes Additional $87,738 from Predatory Lenders

Greg Abbott’s January 15 fundraising report reveals $87,738 in contributions from predatory loan industry sources between July 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013. Abbott’s total take from the industry since 2009 is $271,738. Researchers did not find any predatory-loan contributions in the latest Davis report, keeping her total at $10,500 since 2009.

View the list of payday contributions to Abbott.
View the list of payday contributions to Davis.

Payday Industry Contributions & Lobby Spending

Payday industry contributions are in the news recently. Below are 3 reports TPJ published last year on the political clout of the industry.

Payday Lender Contributions
Payday lenders invested almost $4 million in Texas politicians between 2009 and 2013, seriously constraining what--if anything--could be done about the runaway industry's exploitation of the neediest Texans. Revisit our March 18 Lobby Watch to see the largest contributors and the largest recipients.

Payday Lenders Cover House and Senate
Report lists all House and Senate recipients of Payday money between 2009 and 2013. Revisit our April 29 Lobby Watch to discover which legislators took Payday money. (Hint: almost all of them!)

Payday Lender Lobbying
Twenty-four predatory lenders paid 82 lobbyists up to $4.4 million to kill a bill to impose consumer protections on payday and auto-title loans. A tenth of the industry's lobbyists are former Texas lawmakers. Revisit the details in in our May 2nd Lobby Watch.

Lobby Watch: Eighty-Two Payday Lobbyists Out to Kill Reforms

Twenty-four predatory lenders are paying 82 lobbyists up to $4.4 million to kill a bill to impose consumer protections on payday and auto-title loans. A tenth of the industry's lobbyists are former Texas lawmakers. Georgia-based auto-title lender Rod Aycox is the biggest lobby spender in Texas, which let lenders repossess the vehicles of 35,000 Texans last year.

Details in the new Lobby Watch.

Lobby Watch: Predatory-Loan Bill Lands in Mortgaged House

The Senate passed surprisingly tough predatory-loan reforms that now must run a savage gauntlet through the House. Since 2009 the industry has given $1.4 million to current House members. Meanwhile, Speaker Joe Straus pocketed ten cents of every political dollar that the industry has spent statewide.

Read the details in Lobby Watch.

Lobby Watch: Payday-Funded Pols Push Tepid Loan Reforms

Predatory lenders invested almost $4 million in Texas politicians since 2009, seriously constraining what--if anything--will be done about the runaway industry's exploitation of the neediest Texans.

Loan sharks doubled their spending on Texas elections from 2008 to 2012. It's all revealed in tawdry detail in TPJ's new Lobby Watch.

Payday Lenders Juice Pols with $1.4 Million

Payday lenders who gouge working-class Texans with annual interest rates that can exceed 1,000 percent dispersed $1.4 million to Texas politicians in the 2010 election cycle, a new Texans for Public Justice study finds.

Industry-financed politicians will now decide if this industry should be regulated at all. As a House Committee prepares to hold payday hearings tomorrow, see which campaigns enjoyed the biggest predatory paydays in TPJ's Loan-Shark report.