A new report shows that nearly 128,000 people took out more than 1 million payday loans in South Carolina last year. The chairman of the House Labor Commerce and Industry Committee says the report released Wednesday shows a 2009 state law has stopped the rampant abuse and misuse of the two-week loans.

But critics contend the restrictions didn't go far enough, and the industry still traps poor people in a cycle of debt. The law limited the number of loans to one at a time, up to $550 each, and created an online database to track the loans.

Reports based on that database show borrowers took out 9 percent fewer loans in 2013, compared with 2010. Before the law, the number of loans taken out exceeded 4 million a year.