Undeterred by the Louisiana legislature's reluctance to pass payday lending reform this year, Together Louisiana leaders turned their attention to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, taking over a hearing on mobile banking and pointing out the need for intervention on payday lending.

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'Together Louisiana' leaders publicly handed out Bibles to Louisiana state legislators, asking them to read it before voting on a payday lending reform bill which would cap the number of times an individual can turn over a loan. Said Rev. Lee T. Wesley of Baton Rouge, "We took notice that some legislators wanted to make the Bible the state book...if legislators want to give the Bible special standing, they should start off by reading it."

One of 45 lobbyists paid to kill Senate Bill 84 revealed he was feeling "like a bug smashed against a windshield" today.

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With the press calling it "the sleeper issue of the session," leaders from 'Together Louisiana,' stormed the Capitol to testify in Committee hearings and weigh in on legislative debate over how to address payday lending in Louisiana.

'Together Louisiana' leaders assert that payday lenders able to charge interest rates ten times higher than felony loan-sharking laws currently allow, making them "legal loan sharks." They want a cap on the annual interest rate for entering into short-term loans and are working with legislators to get one, in partnership with in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, AARP, the Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Louisiana Budget Project and the Southern Baptist Convention.

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Leaders from IAF organizations across Louisiana gathered at Shiloh Baptist Church Saturday, February 15 for a conference that aims to disrupt the status quo at the legislature this year by preparing hundreds of leaders on issues ranging from payday lending, mass incarceration, higher education and the environment.

Together Louisiana Prepares for State Legislative Session, WAFB TV

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After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Jeremiah Group leaders found new focus as they heard stories about rent doubling and tripling in the recovering city. When leaders discovered that renters had been all but forgotten in the rebuilding process, they crafted a plan: "soft second mortgages" designed to help families with low incomes transform themselves from renters into buyers.

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