By the staff of TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS-–A bill that would have allowed payday lenders to charge interest rates at levels currently considered loan sharking died without a vote in the Indiana House Monday.

Senate Bill 613 had been opposed by a broad coalition of groups, including the American Legion, veterans groups, religious groups and groups representing working families. While lenders and backers of the bill in the legislature argued that the loans help people meet emergency expenses between paychecks, opponents argued that they only get people deeper into a financial hole.

The bill had squeaked out of the Senate 26-23 but ran into more opposition in the House. Gov. Eric Holcomb also had weighed in, saying the bill gave him “heartburn.”

Monday was the final day for Senate bills to pass out of the House. While any bill that didn’t get a vote, including SB 613, is technically eligible to be added to other legislation in the final days of this session, that appears unlikely.

Rep. Woody Burton, the Greenwood Republican who is chairman of the House Financial Institutions Committee which heard the bill, helped rewrite it in the House. He said he didn’t expect SB 613 to be revived.

“I made sure we gave it a fair hearing,” Burton said. “There just aren’t the votes for it.”

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