We risk losing payday loan protections

Who is Kathy Kraninger?

Well, if you’ve ever had anyone in your family conned by a payday lender, you should know. The U.S. Senate could confirm her soon to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and she seems ready to try to roll back protections for borrowers of payday loans. Like most Americans, I think these basic protections are important to keeping our state safe from scams.

Thankfully, Sen. Jon Tester put consumers in Montana ahead of predatory lenders. During the Senate vote, Tester said, ‘my concern is that if we confirm Kraninger, she will do nothing ... and if she does nothing then … the CFPB will [become] and inactive organization that will not be protecting students, military people or those who are seniors.”

He then voted against installing Kraninger because we need someone at the consumer bureau who will enforce the law, not someone who will fall asleep at the wheel while we get scammed.

—Darrell Johnson,

Billings