Senate committee advances bill to fix payday‑loan transaction fee at $3

A Senate committee advanced Senate Bill 219 on a favorable report that will send the measure to the next stage of consideration. The bill would remove the commissioner’s authority to set the administrative charge for the state’s electronic real‑time payday‑loan transaction database and fix the maximum fee at $3 per transaction.

Sen. Jason How, who introduced the bill and identified himself as representing the 1st Senate District, described SB 219 as a cleanup measure and turned the presentation to a retained legislative agent who helped draft the change.

Dustin Miller, a legislative agent for Verettech Catalyst, summarized the statutory history behind the bill. He said a statewide cap on payday lending was enacted in 1998 (a $500 loan or two loans limit), and that in 2009 the General Assembly created an electronic real‑time database to make enforcement possible without overburdening the general fund. Miller said a fee was included to cover the database’s operating costs and that in 2024 the legislature capped that fee at $3 while allowing the department to set the actual amount. "What this legislation does is simply remove that authority for the commissioner to set it and it just floats to the $3 cap that you passed in 2024," Miller said. "So, it's not really from that standpoint changing that cap of the fee. It just makes it a continuous $3 flat for everyone."

Miller told members the department had used the administrative rule (regulatory) process to set the fee, which required roughly 10 months to complete; he said repeated adjustments to the fee would require repeating that lengthy rulemaking each time. The bill, he said, avoids that recurring regulatory process by making the $3 level statutory.

Sen. Douglas sought a wording clarification about removing the phrase "not to exceed" and replacing it with "of" on the bill text, and then praised the draft as straightforward. "This is a perfect bill for Senator How. Just nice and simple," he said.

A member moved to advance the bill; another member seconded. The secretary called the roll and the chair announced the bill "does pass with favorable expression," advancing SB 219 out of committee. The transcript does not specify who made the motion or who seconded it, nor does it record an individual yea/nay tally beyond the roll call responses.

The chair closed the brief session by noting this was the committee’s only bill for the day and that House bills will be scheduled in the committee’s rotation in the coming weeks.