Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

STATE SEN. Darrell Jackson recently wrote in a column that ran on our pages that he had refused to accept $6,000 in contributions from payday lenders.

While he didn't accept money directly from a payday lending company, Sen. Jackson received $1,000 each from William "Billy" Webster IV and his wife, Lindsay, in 2008. Mr. Webster is co-founder of Spartanburg-based Advance America, the nation's largest payday lender.

In addition, the Midlands Community Development Corp., based at Bible Way Church of Atlas Road where Sen. Jackson is pastor, lists Community Financial Services Association of America as a corporate donor on its Web site. Community Financial Services is the trade group whose sole purpose is to do the bidding of payday lenders. That's the same group that lured then-Sen. Tommy Moore to help hawk payday lending.

Sen. Jackson, who supports what I consider a lax, industry-friendly bill that would preserve payday lending while not giving consumers the protection they need, said he and Mr. Webster are longtime friends, dating back to before Advance America was started. They got started in the Democratic Party together, and the Websters have been contributors for years. Sen. Jackson said he told Mr. Webster he would accept personal contributions, but nothing from his company.

As far as the contributions to the Midlands Community Development Corp., Mr. Jackson said the organization offers financial literacy programs, and Community Financial Services apparently supports that effort. The development corporation doesn't transfer any funds to the church and he in no way benefits, he said.

Mr. Jackson said he wouldn't let a friendship or campaign donations influence his stance on payday lending or any other matter. I've known Sen. Jackson for years and believe that he believes that.

But it's hard to avoid the conclusion that these "friendly" donations are at least as important a part of the industry's lobbying strategy as the official corporate donations.

Last year, payday lenders gave more than $100,000 in contributions in South Carolina and also spent around $200,000 to pay lobbyists.

Payday lenders give to Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate members and party committees. Based on the National Institute on Money in State Politics data, S.C. recipients in recent years include Gov. Mark Sanford, Sen President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Sens. Jake Knotts, Kevin Bryant, Glenn Reese and Lee Bright and Reps. Harry Cato, Bill Sandifer, Ken Kennedy, Rita Allison, Steve Parker, Joey Millwood and Patsy Knight. In addition, the industry gives liberally to community events and organizations such as the S.C. NAACP and the Columbia Urban League.

There's nothing illegal about the donations. But payday lenders, in an effort to curry favor with lawmakers, have made giving to friends across the country an art.

While researching campaign giving by payday lenders in this state and across the country, I found that Mr. Webster and other individuals in the payday lending industry have quite a lot of friends.

From the 2000 through the 2006 election cycles, payday lenders, title lenders and other predatory businesses and affiliated associations gave $10.2 million to state-level candidates and party committees in 41 states; individuals associated with those companies have contributed at least $3.54 million in 45 states, bringing the total to nearly $14 million, according to Scott Jordan, who has written two reports on such contributions for the nonpartisan National Institute of Money in State Politics.

Not only do the companies give, but so do owners, their spouses and others affiliated with the companies.

Mr. Jordan's first report was released in 2007. He updated it in a July report called "With Interest." According to "With Interest," the most generous individuals in the predatory lending industry from 2000 to 2006 were Rod Aycox, owner of LoanMax and Select Management Resources, and his wife, Leslie Vail, who gave $522,100. W. Allan Jones, owner of Check Into Cash, and his wife, Janie, gave $435,742. The Websters gave more than $350,000.

Other individuals with Mr. Webster's company also made donations. And the company itself gave an additional $1.1 million in 30 states.

The company donated at least $38,000 in South Carolina in 2008. In addition, the Websters donated a collective $6,000, and company co-founder George Dean Johnson and his wife, Susan, donated at least $10,000. Company CEO Ken Compton and members of the board of directors -- Steve Benjamin, Robert Chapman II and Tom Hannah collectively made thousands of dollars more in donations. Like Mr. Webster, Mr. Johnson and others have given across the country in varying amounts.

(The donations by Advance America and individuals affiliated with the company don't include the $8 million the company spent on two failed November ballot initiatives in an effort to get voters to OK payday lending.)

It's possible all these folks are simply friends who are donating to friends. But it's not probable.

With a pitiful proposal waiting for Senate approval, it seems lenders' efforts are working. On top of the money and lobbyists they've deployed, former Sen. Moore is back in our midst shaking hands and twisting arms.

It's time lawmakers determine whether Mr. Moore and his buddies are friends or foes.

Reach Mr. Bolton at (803) 771-8631 or wbolton@thestate.com.