Over his last term in office, veteran State Senator Hugh Farley (R - Schenectady County), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has repeatedly been criticized by
watchdog groups and activists for authoring legislation aimed at making it easier for predatory loan check cashers to issue loans to low-income borrowers, after receiving about $15,000 in contributions from the industry.
Senator Farley has repeatedly defended his stance, claiming that he's helping "people in a poor area that have no access to banks" receive their financial services through loan sharks.
From the Albany Times Union, May 6, 2013:
"...public campaign finance advocates will target Sen. Hugh Farley with a mailer that suggests a connection between a bill he introduced to allow check cashers to make loans with nearly $15,000 in campaign money he’s accepted from them in the last five years.
The mailers are part of a statewide push to pressure Republican senators to let a public financing measure to the floor. Farley denied any connection between the donations and the bill introduction, and said he would not move it out of committee after Financial Services Supernintendo Ben Lawsky objected to it.
“These are people in a poor area that have no access to banks. In some areas, these are the only financial services that are offered. These loans are regulated. If people need loans, they’re going to get it, either here, over the Internet at outrageous interest rates, or from a loan shark,” said Farley, a Niskayuna Republican who chairs the Banking Committee. “As chairman of banks, I carry all of the legislation from the banks, from the credit unions, from the check cashers, and everybody who has legislation.”"
Farley continued to promote predatory loan borrowing legislation even after it drew the strong ire of both Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D).
An opinion column from the Albany Times Union, May 2, 2013:
"Say what you will about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s frequently heavy-handed approach to the legislative process — we certainly have. But he deserves praise for killing a bill that would have turned check-cashing operations into legal loan sharks."
"Check-cashing outfits are one of the many businesses that prey on low-income customers who have few places to turn for financial transactions. They’re already known for the high fees they charge. Passing a law that would have allowed them to make loans would have been an irresponsible invitation to predatory behavior."
"Yet there were state Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, and Assemblyman Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, ready to do just that — until Benjamin Lawsky, the governor’s superintendent of financial services, issued a stern warning about how such loans would amount to legalized usury."
"“I’ve never seen a governor do this,” says Sarah Ludwig of the Neighborhood Development Advocacy Project, a fierce critic of what are known as payday loans."
"Now a bill that hadn’t even made it out of committee is dead. Mr. Farley beat a hasty retreat. Why keep pushing legislation so strongly opposed by the governor and the state’s top banking regulator — not to mention, incidentally, the Assembly Speaker?"
In May of 2013, activists drew attention to Farley's predatory loan legislation, holding a protest outside of his Ballston Spa office, urging campaign finance reform and fair elections to be enacted in the state of New York, in order to end unethical "pay to play" legislation.
Fortunately, this year we have two great Democratic candidates running for the 49th State Senate District, which encompasses most of the City of Schenectady and the eastern Mohawk Valley, in addition to western Saratoga County and portions of the interior Adirondacks. Next week, retired pastoral care director Madleyn Thorne (D - Glenville) and former Saratoga County Supervisor Patti Southworth (D - Ballston) will face off in a Democratic primary to see who will face off against Farley this November. Either candidate would be a breath of fresh air and bring a new, more progressive perspective to the 49th State Senate District after almost four decades of the corrupt, entrenched, right-wing Farley.