Off the News: Regulating payday lending, at last

In an overdue move, Hawaii is phasing out its permissive unregulated payday loan practice, which has allowed lenders to structure loans with unrealistically short repayment terms, unaffordable payments and excessive fees, often leaving the cash-strapped consumer with high-cost debt.

House Bill 1192, which will take effect as law in January, creates a licensed, regulated installment lending system. Interest rates and monthly fees will be capped, making the loans less costly in the long run. Plus, consumers will have two to 12 months to pay off a loan of up to $1,500, ensuring better opportunity to build their credit score.

Juneteenth recognized here, nationally

Gov. David Ige signed a bill into law on Wednesday through which Hawaii became the 49th state to recognize Juneteenth, designating June 19 as a day of observance to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. (South Dakota is now the sole state that doesn’t recognize the day as either a state holiday or a day of observance.) Coincidentally, Congress passed a bill Wednesday to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

More than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, confederate states still kept people enslaved. Union troops did not reach the westernmost confederate state of Texas until June 19, 1865, which became known as Juneteenth, to end slavery.