As the House and Senate debate bills that would create jobs as well as a new consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve, states across the country are pushing their mini-me bills that they hope will accomplish some of the same ends.
On the consumer side, the Arizona Senate on Monday passed a bill that would restrict many of the risky home loans that helped the state become one of the nations foreclosure capitals. Among other things, the new bill would bar so-called negative amortization loans and forbids lenders from approving loans where there is little prospect the borrower’s income is enough to make future payments, according to the Arizona Daily Sun. Connecticuts Senate is working on a plan that would require banks to have a representative that homeowners facing foreclosure can talk to about their options.
The number of state consumer protection laws pales in comparison to the slew of jobs proposals being debated in statehouses country. The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that 16 states have proposed bills to ban credit checks on most job applicants, while Hawaii and Washington already have such bans in place. The Kansas House of Representatives on Monday approved a predatory job plan that rewrites and economic incentive programs to encourage employers to move jobs to Kansas from other states.
Legislatures in North Carolina and Indiana are also debating jobs plans (though they are in various stages and may never be law).