President Barack Obama will speak on payday lending during his Thursday appearance at Lawson State Community College in Birmingham, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell's office confirmed Monday.
Sewell said Monday she would join Obama at his appearance and hopes his speech will bring attention to "the urgent need for stronger consumer protections and increased transparency."
"The economy is slowly recovering, and many of my constituents rely on payday loans to help make ends meet," Sewell said in a statement. "I recognize the need for emergency credit, but we must also ensure that these products help consumers, rather than trap them to a perpetual cycle of debt."
Sewell noted that two of her constituent cities, Birmingham and Selma, have implemented six-month moratoriums on payday lending. Those moratoriums allow the businesses that are already in operation to stay open but prohibits new ones from opening.
Legislators and financial leaders have debated for years over how payday loan centers should be regulated. Advocacy groups argue the businesses prey on the poor, trapping them into spending cycles with fees and inflated interest rates.
In September 2013, Gov. Robert Bentley announced the creation of a centralized payday loan database to help enforce a $500 cap on how much people can borrow.
The database was still in limbo at the end of 2014, though, after payday lenders sued Alabama's Banking Department to block creation of the system.
The White House announced Obama's trip just last week, and details were sparse until Birmingham Mayor William Bell confirmed his appearance at Lawson State over the weekend.
Federal, state and local public safety agencies Friday afternoon gathered in Birmingham for a logistics briefing shortly after Obama's visit was made public.
Thursday will mark the second time Air Force One has touched down in the state this month. The president visited Selma on March 7, delivering a speech on civil rights history and the Voting Rights Act during the 50th anniversary commemoration of Bloody Sunday.