State lawmakers might consider limiting borrowers to a single payday loan at any given time — a reform long desired by consumer advocates.

Several legislators said it was now likely such a bill would be introduced for discussion during the current session, with an eye toward action next year.

The prospects for passage are uncertain.

“Hopefully, we can get enough support where we force (the industry) to come to the table and do something meaningful,” said Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, who is working with consumer advocates to write a bill.

Payday lending is on the rise in South Carolina, driven in part by bans on the high-interest loans in neighboring North Carolina and Georgia. The number of S.C. payday stores grew by 14 percent last year, and by 25 percent in the border counties of York and Lancaster.

Anyone with a job and a bank account can qualify for a payday loan. You give the lender a check, cashable on your next payday, for the loan amount plus a fee; the lender gives you cash.

S.C. law allows payday lenders to charge 15 cents for every dollar borrowed. On a loan due in two weeks, that’s an annualized interest rate of 391 percent. The maximum loan is $300.

The industry says it is meeting a need for short-term cash. But critics say many people borrow once to meet an emergency, then keep borrowing because they cannot repay their debt.

For example, a person who borrows $300 owes $345 two weeks later. If they can’t pay the debt, they can pay $45 in interest, and take a new loan to cover the rest.

“Some will say, that little man has to have somewhere to go,” said Rep. Eldridge Emory, D-Lancaster. “But if he gets money this way, he’s just digging a hole deeper and deeper and he’s not going to get out.”

Emory sits on the Labor, Commerce and Industry committee, which would consider any payday legislation.