Legislature: Monday at a glance

Measures restricting payday loans pass

After two days of impassioned debate, the House barely passed a measure Monday to limit to 45 percent the interest that payday-loan lenders can charge.

HB1310 by Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, also requires that loan recipients be given a month to repay the money and prohibits lenders from making a deferred deposit loan to a person paying off another such loan.

Ferrandino argued that such lenders make their money by getting poor customers hooked in a cycle of debt.

But several Republicans argued that the people who get such loans do so because they can not qualify for bank loans and would seek out loan sharks if this option is taken away.

Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, read letters from low-income workers who said they would be in financial ruin without them, and he argued that the bill will drive payday lenders out of business.

The bill was approved 33-30 and heads to the Senate. Rep. Victor Mitchell, whose district includes Teller County, was one of three Republicans to back it.

New license plates

The House gave overwhelming final approval to two El Paso County-generated bills to create new license plates for specific groups.

The bills move now to the Senate.

HB1151 by Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, would create a bill to commemorate the Boy Scouts’ centennial anniversary.

HB1175 by Rep. Stella Garza-Hicks, R-Colorado Springs, creates a plate to honor Fort Carson’s 4th Infantry Division.

Booze flowing free

The House and Senate approved bills sure to please liquor lovers.

SB82, which would allow Sunday sales of liquor and full-strength beer, cleared its first chamber on a 23-8 vote. All four Republicans representing El Paso County — Bill Cadman, Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, Dave Schultheis and Tom Wiens — voted against it.

The House, meanwhile, gave unanimous approval to a measure that would allow art galleries to serve alcoholic beverages under certain conditions, such as during the Monument art walks on certain Thursdays. The measures now head to the opposite chamber.