COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s attorney general last week rejected a proposed voter referendum to overturn a new 28% interest rate cap in payday loans because the proposed ballot initiative never mentions the new rate.
A group sponsored by the state’s payday lenders must now rewrite the initiative and collect at least 241,365 signatures before submitting it for November’s ballot.
In her ruling, Attorney General Nancy Rogers said some parts of the initiative should mention the new lower maximum rate. “Otherwise, the most fundamental change that HB 545 brought about is not stated for the potential petition-signer,” she wrote.
The Attorney General said the language also includes “inflammatory use of the phrase ‘personal information’” and drastically overstated the impact of the law on credit union loans.
