DENVER – House Republicans tried to help payday lenders Tuesday, but their move imperiled all the rules adopted by state government in the last year, risking everything from hunting season to school accreditation.

Republicans were disappointed when their bill to allow payday lenders to charge higher fees for their high-interest loans died in a Senate committee last week.

So they took aim at the Rule Review bill, Senate Bill 78, which gives the force of law to rules that divisions of the state government adopted in the last year.

Those rules include Attorney General John Suthers’ strict limits on the fees payday lenders can keep.

Democrats rebelled at the maneuver, and Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, launched a filibuster.

Republicans won the vote, with opposition from all but one Democrat.

Tuesday’s vote sets up a final vote today in the House, which would send the bill to the Senate. The Democratic-controlled Senate could reject the change and send the original bill back to the House to either live or die.

If either chamber kills it, all 574 rules passed in the last year – more than 7,000 pages – would become moot.

The yearly legislative session ends today.

jhanel@durangoherald.com