Senator targets payday lenders.

Byline: Francis X. Gilpin

Feb. 22--A state legislator said he's ready to take action to curb payday loans on the same day that the industry kicked off a $10 million public relations campaign.

Fairhope Republican Bradley Byrne said he regrets his vote four years ago as a freshman senator that helped exempt the industry from Alabama's usury laws. So Byrne said he plans to introduce a bill to bring payday lenders under the state's 36 percent rate ceiling before the Legislature convenes in regular session next month.

In a two-day series in December, the Montgomery Advertiser reported that consumer advocates consider Alabama's payday lending law to be …