PHOENIX -- The Arizona House has approved legislation to give new protections to payday loan borrowers.

At the same time, the bill helps the payday loan industry by lifting the scheduled expiration of the state law authorizing the short-term loans.

The bill now goes to the state Senate.

The bill would erase the July 2010 automatic repeal included in the 2000 law that authorized payday loans.

Additional key provisions include limiting a borrower to one payday loan at a time and requiring lenders to check a database to verify that an applicant doesn't have an existing loan.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)