Wasserman Schultz backs bill to delay payday loan rules

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee is pushing a bill that would delay new payday lending regulations.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is co-sponsoring the Consumer Protection and Choice Act, which would delay for two years pending rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) meant to crack down on abusive payday lending.

She has started rallying Democratic support behind the bill, according to the Huffington Post.

{mosads}The legislation would also exempt states with exisiting payday lending abuse laws from the rules. Wasserman Schultz’s home state of Florida has one such law on the books, and 12 of the bill’s 24 co-sponsors are also from the Sunshine State.

“As a state lawmaker, she helped write Florida’s law that has sharply reduced the need to go to bad actors, curbed predatory practices and created standards and protections for low-income borrowers,” Wasserman Schultz spokesman Sean Bartlett said in a statement to the Huffington Post.

“The Congresswoman wants to work with the CFPB on the way forward, and believes the Florida law is an example of how to achieve their shared goals of balancing strong consumer protections with preserving access to credit in underserved communities.”

The CFPB is crafting rules meant to keep those who take payday loans from being trapped in debt and prevent excessive fees.

The agency has long been a target of Republican lawmakers, who claim it pushed strangling financial sector regulations under the guise of consumer protection.