LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A proposal to cap the interest rates that payday lenders can charge in Nebraska has qualified for the November general election ballot, Secretary of State Bob Evnen said Wednesday.
Evnen said backers of the measure gathered enough petition signatures to place the issue before voters.
The group Nebraskans for Responsible Lending is looking to cap the annual interest rate on payday loans at 36%, like measures that have passed in 16 other states and the District of Columbia.
Current Nebraska law allows lenders to charge as much as 404% annually, a rate that advocates say victimizes the poor and people who aren't financially sophisticated. Industry officials argue that the top rate is misleading because most of their loans are short-term.
At least 85,628 valid signatures were required to place the issue on the ballot. The secretary of state's office says 94,468 were accepted.
The campaign also met Nebraska's geographic distribution requirement, collecting signatures from more than 5% of registered voters in 46 of the state's 93 counties.