January 31, 2012

Two organizations began a joint campaign effort Saturday at the Boone County Commission Chamber to raise the Missouri minimum wage and cap payday-lending rates.

Give Missourians a Raise is proposing an increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.25 an hour and Missourians for Responsible Lending is proposing to cap payday-lending rates at 36 percent.

The event focused on educating the public on these issues and making it clear the people have the power to enact change if everyone does their part. An energetic crowd of about 80 people joined in chants and cheers throughout the event.

“We are here today to use our people power and the initiative process in the state of Missouri to make our voices heard,” said Curtis Edwards, Grass Roots Organizing Mizzou president and event emcee.

The current minimum wage comes out to about $290 per week and about $15,000 per year for a full-time job. The added wages would provide an additional $40 per week in income for a yearly gain of just more than $2,000.

In order for the two proposals to make the ballot, they will each require at least 105,000 signatures from six of the nine congressional districts, GRO Director Robin Acree said.

Both proposals will not be without opposition. State Rep. Mary Still, D-Columbia, has fought for payday lending reform for many years but has not been able to get a floor vote on the issue.

She said the wealthy special interests have influenced the votes of many state legislators.

“Wherever I go all over this state people will say they agree with me,” Still said. “(Payday lending reform) is a bipartisan issue everywhere except Jefferson City.”

Still said she sees both issues as important steps to assisting and expanding our middle class.

“I believe that if you are working hard and playing by the rules you ought to be able to afford a middle class lifestyle,” Still said.

GRO member Graham McCaulley, a graduate assistant at MU, gave his insights on the issue as a former employee of a payday-lending store.

“In my experience, these loans are not designed as short-term, one-time solutions like the companies like to say they are but are instead intended to keep people trapped in debt as the rich prey upon the elderly, poor, disabled and minority populations,” McCaulley said.

Brenda Proctor, an MU Extension specialist in personal financial planning, offered a summary of McCaulley’s recent research report, “Show-Me Predatory Lending: Where does the Money Go?”

She said only 2 percent of loans go to borrowers who pay the loan off in time and then don’t come back for a year.

GRO Mizzou is one of several other organizations supporting this effort.

GRO Mizzou member Jack Buthod said they are planning on collecting signatures Mondays and Fridays in the MU Student Center during the winter.

He said they will move outside once the weather improves.

Those at the event were asked to donate at the end to help fund the effort. Many of those in attendance went right to work after the event to continue collecting signatures.

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