*State Veterans Legislative Update: 3 May 2016 | MOAA CORONADO – MOAA 5 STAR LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE AWARD AND FIVE STAR COMMUNICATIONS AWARD FOR 2023

An amendment to SB 1316 S/E has been introduced as a last ditch effort by the sponsor and predatory lending industry get it through the Senate. Without advanced notice it is being voted on in the Senate this afternoon. If it passes in the Senate, it will then go to the House for a final vote

Please consider sending the draft message at the end of this Email to all Arizona State Senators and Representatives today to give all Senators (if it is not too late) and to the House to give them a heads up as to what is really happening on this issue.

NOTE: The draft message has a the very long internet link : http://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html?cloanamount=2500&cloanterm=1.5&cinterestrate=156&printit=0&x=70&y=13 that may appear in two parts in a reduced screen view as it may also appear in your view now. So be advised that it is one continuous link with no spaces. You can click on any portion of the link

Email addresses with Semi-colons for members of the Arizona Senate:

Senate Addresses With Commas:

Email addresses with Semi-colons for members of the Arizona House of Representatives:

You might want to print this Email now to have the instructions below

available to facilitate using this process.

Guidance for processing and sending your Email(s).

When you are ready to forward the Message at the end of this text to all State Legislators:

Click on “Forward”from this message. (Note: Clicking on “Forward” does not send the message. It only sets it up to complete the processes below before hitting “Send”).
Then delete all of the Subject line in your new message except for: Here’s my View‘.
Edit the message that appears just below the blue line below if desired, and enter your name (and retired Rank if you are a Military Retiree) after the word ‘Respectfully‘. Enter your address if desired, but that might tend to make some Legislators or their staff to delete your message before they read it if you are not a constituent. Consider just adding something like ”Concerned Arizona Veteran” or other phrase of your choosing after your name. If you are a constituent of one of the Legislators, in addition to sending this Email to all of them, please consider calling their offices with your concerns. Go to or click on www.azleg.govhere. At that site, click on ‘Senate’ or ‘House’ and then on ‘Members’ on the drop down menu) to find their phone numbers.
Copy the above Email addresses with Semi-colons (e.g., high light the addresses of all 30 Senators and then hit ‘Ctrl’ and ‘C’ simultaneously), and paste it on the Bcc: line (put your cursor on the Bcc:line of your new message and then hit ‘Ctrl’ and ‘V’ simultaneously. Then repeat the process in the same message or in a separate message for the State Representatives

NOTE:

If you have problems with your system not allowing so many address at one time, break the groups down into two or more groups for use in sending the messages.

And if your system rejects the use of Semi-colons separating the addresses, follow the above process using the groups of addresses separated by Commas as shown above.

Now High Light the blue line shown below (place your curser just below the blue line) press down and sweep upward acrosseverything above it.
Then hit “Delete” on your keyboard . That will leave just the Draft Messageand your name that now appears below the blue line as the text of your new Email.
7.Then when you feel comfortable that you have completed all the steps correctly, and have added your nameat the end of the message, you can hit “Send” to send your Email.

Draft Message

Dear State Legislator,

Again, it’s time to listen to your constituents and Arizona voters who put an end to predatory lending in 2008, and ask yourself why you are planning to vote for the SB1316 S/E amendment if that is what you are planning to do. And kudos to you if you are planning to vote against that amendment. Here are the reasons why I am asking for your vote against the amendment, and encouraging you to ask your colleagues to do the same.

The amendment to the SB 1316 S/E predatory lending Bill is merely a token effort to influence some who have been opposed to SB 1316 S/E to now consider supporting it. Changing the term for a loan from 24 months to 18 months and reducing the interest rate by a mere 2% per month, from 17% per month to 15% per month (180% APR) on an unsecured loan and from15% to 13% per month (156% APR) on a secured loan results in interest payments over the term of the loans that are still unconscionable. That, for example, is nearly $4900 interest on an unsecured $2500 loan at 180% APR.

The amendment also calls for a ten million dollar fund to be collected from lenders over 10 years. That money would benevolently provide a ‘Community Development Service Fund’ that the Governor’s “Office for Children, Youth and Families” would draw upon for grants to eligible charitable organizations. The grants would be available to provide low interest or zero-interest loans, emergency funds, credit counseling, etc. However, the amendment does not specify the amount of each company’s annual profits that they would be assessed, nor does it specify any minimum amount they would have to pay annually. It appears to be merely a veiled attempt to gain support for this Bill from charitable organizations (which won’t happen). And even at a ten million cap across all lenders over ten years, it would be a mere drop in the bucket of the predatory lending industry’s expectations of millions of dollars in profits annually from loans to Arizona’s financially distressed. This is all unconscionable, and shows how desperate the usurious predatory lending industry is to get a foothold in Arizona. It’s disturbing to see those who are the major proponents being as adamant as they are about this issue.

This all makes one wonder why those who have been supporting SB 1316 S/El have been doing so, and “Because it’s the right thing to do” is not the correct answer. It also makes one curious as to why so many who are currently planning to vote for this bill have been so reluctant to speak out in support for the Bill,. Please vote your conscience and don’t let your name appear as one of those supporters of this predatory lending Bill amendment.

Please follow the lead of Senator Kinberly Yee and Senator Gail Griffin and Republican and Democrat colleagues in nonpartisan opposition to the SB 1316 S/E amendment, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.

To enable you to see first hand the usurious nature of these loans, below is a link where you can quickly and easily produce a ‘Monthly Amortization Schedule’ for any sized loan offered under this proposed amendment to SB 1316 S/E. They will all show that the total of the payments under the terms of this Bill will be nearly three times the amount of any size unsecured loan. Click on this link or copy and paste this link in your browser:

http://www.calculator.net/amortization-calculator.html?cloanamount=2500&cloanterm=1.5&cinterestrate=156&printit=0&x=70&y=13

At that site, enter the “Loan Amount”, e.g., $2500; the “Loan Term” in years, e.g., 1.5, and the “Interest Rate (APR)”, e.g., !80% APR (15% interest per month times 12 months) for an unsecured loan. Then click on “Calculate” to see the “Monthly Pay”, e.g., the $407.97 monthly payment (that remains constant over the term of the loan) shown in the upper right hand corner of the screen. And at the location you will also see the “Total of 18 Loan Payments”, e. g., $7,343.38, and the “Total Interest” paid over the term of the loan, e.g., $4,843.38. Then scroll down to see the “Monthly Amortization Schedule” where you will see the monthly details, including the minimal first month principle payment that will have been automatically determined to be $32.97 vs. the $10.05 that you may recall (or can calculate at this link) was determined for a $2500 loan over 24 months at 17% interest per month (204% APR) that was authorized in the original Bill. And as usual, these disturbing details are not revealed in the text of amendment.

Respectfully,