by Adam Doster, Progress Illinois:

Efforts to rein in the payday lending industry may have stalled in Springfield last month, but the battle in Washington is just heating up. After holding a hearing in April, Rep. Luis Gutierrez will likely bring his Payday Loan Reform Act of 2009 up for a committee vote this session. And there are rumors that Sen. Dick Durbin’s more comprehensive anti-usury bill might be moved as part of a larger finance reform package being assembled by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).

To be sure, both lenders and consumer advocates are gearing up for a lobbying push. As we noted last week, representatives from the online payday lending industry are already leaning on legislators to reject any interest rate caps on the short-term loans. As a counterweight, the Center for Responsible Lending has unveiled a new campaign titled “400 Faces,” which aims to show “the media, lawmakers, and the general public how this so-called service is nothing but a scam.” The organization is collecting stories from those who have been caught in a payday lending debt trap and posting short documentaries on YouTube. Here is their first:

Activists opposed to Gutierrez’ bill, which Stephen Colbert lampooned on his Comedy Central show in April, have also created a Facebook group “Stop H.R. 1214.” That can be reached here.