Our view: Lawmakers must stand firm against industry’s latest ‘reform’ tricks.

We’re not going to count these chickens until the Legislature adjourns and its members disperse back into the real world. Still, it appears likely that the payday loan industry won’t get a reprieve from lawmakers.

That’s as it should be: Voters said by a 3-2 ratio in 2008 that they want the usurious lending shops to shut down, as scheduled, on June 30.

Nevertheless, the payday loan industry has attempted at least three end runs around the electorate to get “reform” legislation enacted that would extend its life in Arizona.

The industry’s lobbyist, Lee Miller, said this week he didn’t have enough votes to get the last effort through the Legislature, Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services reported on Wednesday.

Further, despite the industry’s lament to lawmakers that thousands of jobs would be lost when its exemption from the state’s 36 percent interest cap expires on June 30, Miller predicted that some shops will be able to continue doing business, Fischer reported.

They will make money cashing checks or by being agents for the Motor Vehicle Division, Miller said.

There are about 650 payday lending outlets in Arizona. They opened business here after the Legislature in 2000 authorized “deferred presentment transactions” on a trial basis.

In these transactions, a borrower writes a check for up to $500, plus a fee of up to $17.85 per $100 borrowed. The lender advances the money, minus the fee, and promises not to cash the check for up to two weeks.

These rates amount to interest payouts of about 400 percent annually and have entwined too many borrowers in a crushing, almost never-ending cycle of debt.

In the industry’s most recent “reform” effort, they would have agreed to abide by the 36 percent interest cap, but would be allowed to charge an “origination fee” of up to 7.5 percent of the loan, as well as a $10 document orgination fee.

Miller told Fischer he couldn’t gather the votes to pull that off.

We certainly hope not.

The last days of every legislative session are chaotic, and sometimes a bad bill will be sneaked through the process – often as a “strike everything” amendment that wipes out the original language with something totally different.

So we won’t be celebrating the industry’s defeat until the Legislature adjourns and goes home.

They must let stand the law that sunsets the payday loan industry’s exemption from the 36 percent cap.

No more special deals giving sharks an edge over minnows. Period.

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