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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina lawmaker determining the fate of new consumer protections in payday loans runs a political action committee that has collected $5,000 in donations from that industry and on Wednesday canceled further discussions on the legislation.

Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee Chairman Harry Cato said the legislation won’t pass this year because of disagreements over the proposal. He said the contributions — given in 2006 and 2007 — had no effect on his decision.

“It has not influenced me,” said Cato, R-Travelers Rest. “To me the groups are just too far apart.”

Other lawmakers involved in the process said a compromise could have been reached, though the measure did face a tough road even if it had made it out of committee. But a government watchdog group said the industry contributions to Cato’s PAC, which the lawmaker then doles out as campaign aid to lawmakers, were clearly attempts to sway legislators.

“They’re trying to buy influence by giving campaign contributions,” said John Crangle, state director for Common Cause, a Washington-based government watchdog group.

Advance America Cash Centers Inc., a Spartanburg-based payday lending industry leader that donated to Cato’s PAC, said there’s nothing wrong with such contributions. The company has the same right to participate in the political process as other companies, said company spokesman Jamie Fulmer.

“There’s nothing inappropriate or improper about the way we participate in that process,” he said.

The payday lending industry has increasingly come under attack for what critics contend are excessive charges. The short-term loans charge fees of $15 for every $100 borrowed. That can add up to an annualized percentage rate of nearly 400 percent for a two-week loan.

Supporters of the industry say it gives people access to emergency money when they have no other resources. They point to fees banks charge for bounced checks or overdraft protection — sometimes more than $30 regardless of the check amount — that, if annualized, would equal even higher interest rates.

The legislation passed by the Senate would have set a loan cap of $500 or a quarter of a borrower’s biweekly income and barred consumers from taking out a second loan before paying off the first one. It would have created a database to force compliance with that.

State Rep. Nikki Haley, who runs the subcommittee handling the legislation, said lawmakers expected to draft a compromise amendment next week. Instead, she said Cato told her Wednesday the meeting would be canceled.

“I and the members of the subcommittee put a lot of time and energy into what we believe could be a strong payday lending reform bill and would have liked to have an opportunity to have a working meeting to produce something out of subcommittee,” said Haley, R-Lexington. “And I’m disappointed we won’t have that opportunity.”

Had the subcommittee passed the bill, it would have been up to Cato to decide to put it on his full committee’s agenda. Even then, the bill faced slim chances of making it into law because of the need to resolves differences with the Senate’s version of the bill. The Legislature’s two-year session ends June 5 and unfinished bills die.

Cato said he never solicited donations personally. Besides the $5,000, his PAC took $6,500 from other small-lending businesses.

He said his donations to dozens of House members’ campaigns don’t wield influence among lawmakers.

“I would like to think the PAC doesn’t change anything. I would like to think that when I was chairman — way before I had a leadership PAC — that what I wanted as chairman carried a great deal of weight,” Cato said.

He said he donates to lawmakers who want the payday lending industry banned. For instance, state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, has received $3,000 from Cato’s PAC and is a leading payday lending opponent.

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