Even as the subprime mortgage meltdown continues to roil the nation’s financial markets, debate is warming up in Springfield over an eerily similar lending matter: payday loans.

At issue is whether to close what some consider a glaring loophole in existing law that arguably subjects tens of thousands of folks who don’t have much money to start with to the kinds of high fees and interest rates (as much as 1,200%) that can destroy a family just as surely as foreclosure on their home.