The Network has received word that the House Financial Institutions Committee will hold a hearing on Senate Bill 613 this Tuesday, March 26 at 10:30 a.m.

This damaging bill has already passed the Senate and would:

• Create new, longer-term, high-cost payday and subprime loan products for much larger amounts;

• Provide payday lenders with access to borrowers’ bank accounts, giving lenders little incentive to ensure a borrowers’ ability to repay the loan and meet other expenses;

• Effectively rewrite the definition of criminal loansharking in Indiana.

The Network, along with a coalition of nearly 70 organizations, urges opposition to this bill that would bring about further financial peril for distressed borrowers, increasing their risk of bankruptcy, delinquency, and getting stuck in a spiral of debt.

We need members of the House to hear from you now.

How you can help:

• Contact your representative and express your OPPOSITION to SB 613. If you are unsure of who your representative is, click this link.

• • Indiana House Democrats: (800) 382-9842

  • Indiana House Republicans: (800) 382-9841

• Please share this request on social media 

• Pass this request along to your friends, family, and neighbors. The more constituents we have expressing their views on this bill, the better our chances of winning this battle for Hoosier consumers.

To learn more about SB 613, the hearing, or about consumer financial protections in Indiana, contact Logan Charlesworth, Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network Manager. 

Thank you for your advocacy!

According to a new Asset Funders Network report, Millennial women represent more than 30 percent of the U.S. female population but, unfortunately, are not receiving the benefits from current economic policies and systems despite rising college attendance rates and career opportunities.

Researchers found that single Millennial women’s median wealth holding is 162 percent less than their single male counterparts. Furthermore, this group is 37 percent more likely than GenXers to live below the poverty line and are more likely to be under-or-unemployed than previous generations.

To read the full report,click here.

Now that Senate Bill 104 has been defeated on the senate floor, we have turned all of our attention to Senate Bill 613, which passed through the Senate and is now in the House. If passed, the bill would open the door even wider to payday and subprime lenders to offer new larger and longer-term loans at exceedingly high interest rates.

We cannot stop this bill without your help. 

Here's how you can make a difference in the lives of vulnerable Hoosier consumers and keep predatory lenders out of our state:

• Contact your representatives: A two-minute call can make all the difference. Call your representatives and express your STRONG OPPOSITION to SB 613.
  House Republicans: 800-382-9841
  House Democrats: 800-382-9842
  Not sure who your representative is? Click this linkto find out. 

• Watch your email: We will be sending more a pre-drafted letter via an action alert email in the next two days to allow you to easily reach out to your representatives in the House about your opposition to this legislation. Please keep an eye on your email in order to help stop predatory lenders.

• Sign your name and organization (if applicable) to our letter: Tell legislators that Hoosiers do NOT want these products in our state.Click here to access our sign-on letter and join the people and organizations that have taken a public stand against SB 613 and predatory lenders. 

• Spread the word: There is power in numbers. If every person receiving this message passes this on to one friend, family member, or colleague, the House won't be able to ignore the number of Hoosiers opposing this dangerous bill. 

We aren't giving up on Hoosiers consumers and we hope you won't either!

Thank you for your advocacy!

On March 11, Prosperity Indiana and the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network were joined by dozens of military and veterans’ groups, faith-based organizations and churches, social service providers, community organizations, concerned citizens, and more at the Statehouse for a Reject Senate Bill 613 press conference. 

Advocates from all walks of life stood in unity as leaders from their respective fields condemned SB 613 and implored House leaders to reject this piece of harmful legislation. If passed, SB 613 would rewrite the definition of criminal loansharking and open the door for high-cost lending in Indiana by permitting larger, longer-term loan products outside of the current 72 percent cap. It would also increase the allowable cost on various consumer loans, including auto and installment loans.

Iraq War veteran Steven Bramer, Jr., a former payday borrower, shared his experience of getting caught in the vicious payday lending cycle. “I got myself in a horribly expensive cycle,” he shared before adding, “I protected you at one point. Now, it’s time for you to protect me.”

Marcie Luhigo, Outreach Minster from The Creek Church in Indianapolis, also shared the story of Bill and Misty, a local family that approached the church for assistance keeping their home after falling victim to payday lending. She stated that the church encounters “a lot of Bills and Mistys” through its debt assistance program.

Prosperity Indiana and its members were represented by Mark Lindenlaub, Executive Director of Thrive Alliance in Columbus. He voiced concern regarding the increased workload social service agencies would encounter from families seeking relief from predatory loans should SB 613 pass, stating that, “adding larger, longer-term and higher-rate loans to vulnerable families will only make their lives, and our work, more difficult.”

Click here to view a recorded live stream of the press conference.

The members of the Midwest Asset Building Conference Planning Committee [The Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM), Illinois Asset Building Group, Prosperity Indiana/the Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network, Ohio CDC Association and Minnesota Asset Building Coalition] are currently seeking innovative and engaging speakers and presenters focused on asset building and financial empowerment in the Midwest.

The Midwest Asset Building Conference Planning Committee welcomes proposals from regional, statewide, national and international speakers and presenters who wish to bring their expertise and passion to the premier conference for asset building in the Midwest.

The Midwest Asset Building Conference Planning Committee is committed to creating an equitable conference. We welcome and encourage those who live or identify within marginalized communities to submit proposals.

Interested presenters should submit a proposal including name, affiliation, contact information, background and qualifications and a brief description of the proposed session. The description should include the title, objective, audience, content level (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and method of delivery, if unique, and indicate if a plenary speaker position or a breakout session is sought. We encourage you to submit a video of prior presentations if available. Free conference registration and travel reimbursement will be offered to session presenters. Sessions will be 60-90 minutes.

This is an opportunity to showcase topics critical to asset building and financial empowerment in a way that engages the audience, facilitates discussion of new ideas and moves ideas to action!

Topics of interest for the 2019 conference include* (but are not limited to):

*Sessions that include a racial equity and inclusion lens are encouraged

Topic 1: Financial Empowerment Programs and Initiatives

• Financial Empowerment Centers, Financial Coaching and Counseling

• Financial Capability Technology and Data Management

• Income Inequality

• Credit Building

Topic 2: Policy and Advocacy

• Student Loan Policy

• Federal or State Tax Policy

• Federal or State Consumer Protections

• State Car Loan Policies

• Racial Wealth Divide

Topic 3: Asset Building

• Children’s Savings Accounts

• Individual Development Accounts

• Affordable Housing

• Retirement Savings

• Emergency Savings

Topic 4: Tax-prep Assistance

• Tax-time Savings

• Virtual VITA

• Tax-prep Coalition Building

Topic 5: Capacity Building

• Fundraising

• Communications

• Cultivating leadership in the financial empowerment and asset building field

• Other

We may also accept creative and engaging topics that do not fall under the listed categories.

Proposals are due by 5:00pm on Friday, April 26, 2019. Proposals can be electronically submitted through thisGoogle form. More information about this event is availablehere.

The Indiana Senate is poised to vote on a measure Tuesday that would allow payday and subprime lenders to charge interest rates on small loans at levels currently classified as felony loan sharking. 

The payday loan industry has pushed for similar legislation for the past three years, only to be rebuffed amid concerns from social service organizations and others who see such high-interest rates as predatory.

Read the full article on theIndy Star’s website.

The Network has received word the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee will hold a hearing on SB 587 on Wednesday, February 13, and the Senate Commerce and Technology Committee will likely hold a hearing on SB 613 on Thursday, February 21.

The Network does not support either bill and strongly believes both would harm Hoosier consumers. When paired with the CFPB's recent decision to gut the agency’s own consumer protections against predatory payday lenders, we believe Hoosier consumers are in grave danger.

The low-lights include:

SB 587

• Dismantling Indiana's current loansharking cap of 72 percent APR, essentially allowing unrestricted payday loans with APRs even higher than current payday products.

• Incentivizing loan flipping with non-refundable, front-loaded fees. 

• Permitting ANY consumer loan, including car loans, second mortgages, etc., (does not include first-lien mortgages) to charge 36 percent interest. Current law restricts 36 percent to loans of $2000 or less.

SB 613

• Creating a new product for payday lenders outside our criminal loansharking cap, allowing them to offer much larger loans – up to $1800 - with no protections at the similarly high APRs. 

• Providing payday lenders with access to borrowers' bank accounts, giving lenders little incentive to ensure a borrowers' ability to repay the loan and meet other expenses. 

We need your voice to be heard in the Statehouse.

Here's how you can help:

• If you have not done so already, click here to express your support for a 36 percent APR cap on payday loans in Indiana.

• Urge the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee to vote on SB 104, a bill that would cap small-dollar, short-term loans at 36 percent APR. Click here to find your lawmaker and access their contact information.

• Ask your lawmaker to vote "no" on SB 587 and SB 613.

To learn more about the hearings or about consumer financial protections in Indiana, contact Logan Charlesworth, Network Manager, Kathleen Lara, Prosperity Indiana Policy Director, or Erin Macey, Indiana Institute for Working Families Senior Policy Analyst. 

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved to gut the agency’s own consumer protections against predatory payday lenders yesterday, leaving Hoosier families exposed to high interest rates of payday lenders. The Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network opposes this action and urges that the CFPB’s 2017 rule on predatory lending take effect as soon as possible.

“We were deeply disappointed to hear of the CFPB’s decision yesterday afternoon,” said Logan Charlesworth, Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network Manager. “But decisions like these from Washington remind us why passing legislation here in Indiana that will protect Hoosier families from falling into the predatory lending debt trap is so important.”

On January 23, 2019, the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee held a hearing on SB 104, a bill that would cap small dollar, short term loans at 36 percent APR. It is the first time the state legislature has entertained an “offensive” proposal, a testament to the collective strength of all of the people and organizations backing a 36 percent APR cap on payday loans. The Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network strongly supports SB 104 and commends Senator Greg Walker (R-41) for authoring this bill to protect Hoosier consumers.

The Indiana Assets & Opportunity Network, which is co-led by Prosperity Indiana and the Indiana Institute for Working Families, has advocated for a 36 percent APR cap in Indiana alongside dozens of other Indiana-based organizations, which has effectively protected residents of 16 other states and Washington, D.C., as well as active duty military servicemembers from high interest rates from payday lenders.

In the wake of the SB 104 committee hearing on January 23, 2019, the Indianapolis Star wrote an article discussing both sides of the payday loan argument, featuring interviews with A&O Steering Committee member Erin Macey, Senior Policy Analyst at the Indiana Institute for Working Families, and other friends of the Network.

To read the full article,click here.

Combining robust data at the national and state levels, an interactive map and relevant policy information, the 2019Prosperity Now Scorecard is a powerful tool for revealing the financial lives of Americans beyond the headlines.

The Scorecard reveals that Americans—especially people of color—remain vulnerable in the face of an economic shock.

This year’s Scorecard includes an expanded focus on racial economic inequality, while also highlighting the themes of financial assets and income; businesses and jobs; homeownership and housing; health care; and education. The Scorecard team has developed a new ranking methodology that strengthens the analysis of each state’s racial and ethnic disparities. These updated rankings account for how racial economic inequality affects residents' ability to achieve prosperity. 

Click here to access the 2019 Prosperity Now Scorecard.