Jennifer Brunner says that if she's elected to the U.S. Senate next year, one of her priorities will be to toughen the just-passed credit-card bill to limit interest rates consumers can be charged.

Brunner, currently Ohio's secretary of state, is running against Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for the Democratic nomination.

Brunner lauded the credit-card bill's passage but said last week, "Until this bill becomes law next summer, Americans trying to pay down their credit-card balances will be at risk for being slapped with sudden interest-rate increases, excessive fees, double-cycle billing or charging interest on paid balances, and credit-card companies applying payments to low-interest balances before the higher-interest ones."

Brunner said Congress should quickly cap the amount of interest a company can charge, "so that the bill has some teeth and actually protects everyday Americans when it finally becomes law."

She acknowledged that a limit of about 15 percent to 18 percent didn't fare well when the Senate considered the overall bill, failing 60-33. Nearly all Republicans voted no. Democrats were relatively evenly split. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio voted yes; GOP Sen. George V. Voinovich did not vote.

Compiled by Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief Jonathan Riskind.

jriskind@dispatch.com