Letters to the Editor
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States aren't passing usury laws because the federal government overrides them
Federal preemption, in the form of the National Banking Act, has rendered state usury laws meaningless, where they're still on the books.
Any payday lender that is affiliated with a federally-chartered bank can claim exemption from state usury and other consumer protection laws under the National Bank Act. The Supreme Court has affirmed and reaffirmed this sweeping federal preemption, most recently in Watters v. Wachovia.
Protecting financial institutions' ability to charge their consumers is a bipartisan effort on the part of Congress. States have very little to say about it any more.