Maybe bishops and ministers can shame Austin into action on payday loans.
For years, consumer advocates have been calling for lawmakers to rein in these high-cost loans targeted at the working poor. The short-term cash advances pile up fees and often overwhelm borrowers, who are predominantly minorities.
Seventeen states have reportedly reformed payday lending, and the movement has gained momentum in the past five years.
In November, voters in Montana -- not exactly a liberal outpost -- overwhelmingly approved a measure to cap payday loans at 36 percent a year, the latest evidence of national sentiment.
In 2006, Congress set the same 36 percent maximum for the military and their families. For many, the federal move provides a closing argument for reform: If the nation's service members deserve extra protection from these practices, why not the rest of America?
Don't hold your breath waiting on Texas. The effective rate on payday loans here is literally unlimited, and demand is growing from strapped customers who need cash to hold them over until the next paycheck. North Texas has become one of the centers of the industry, with Cash America International, First Cash Financial Services and Ace Cash Express based here.
In Austin, the industry typically runs out the legislative clock or finds a loophole to operate outside regulations that cover other lenders. With a super-Republican majority in 2011, plus a concentration of payday companies in the state, you wouldn't expect a serious challenge now.
Except that religious leaders have joined the fray. Catholics, Baptists and other religious leaders are making a moral, ethical argument -- and an economic one.
"We do not have the resources to line the pockets of the payday lending industry," Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Austin Diocese said at a news conference last week.