A recent opinion piece in The Paper, Albuquerque’s independent print and digital news source, spoke to the challenges arising from the COVID 19 pandemic for underserved individuals, families and businesses in New Mexico and called for legislators to commit to providing greater access to the financial resources needed to succeed.
The author, Chad Cooper, a founding board member of the African American Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, points out that Governor Lujan Grisham, working with the majority of legislators, is actively pushing reforms to mitigate — if not reverse — decades-old policies aimed at hindering economic access for certain communities, but that, “Minority consumers also need access to the same financial services other New Mexicans access, especially credit” and traditional installment loans may be the only option for some New Mexicans.
Nevertheless, he goes on to warn that,
“…interest groups are pushing the legislature to again take up legislation to cap interest rates on small-dollar loans…in the last legislative session, policymakers went too far by supporting a drastic measure that failed to account for the real need and demand for small-dollar loans. If that bill had passed reputable lenders would have left the state with no legitimate lenders to meet the demand for loan. This would have forced consumers toward predatory lenders.”
NILA strongly supports the points made in this important opinion piece and echoes the African American Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce’s calls for the expansion of access to the safe and affordable installment credit so essential to individuals and families in their recovery from COVID 19.
The complete opinion piece can be read here: https://abq.news/2021/11/we-must-expand-access-to-capital-and-credit-in-underserved-communities/
SOURCE: The Paper
