Citing inadequate consumer-protection efforts, Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed legislation Thursday that would have applied new regulations to rent-to-own businesses.

According to Doyle, the proposed rules were not stringent enough and instead shorthanded low-income consumers by releasing rent-to-own stores from more severe regulations.

"The governor has a long record as attorney general of fighting for consumers' interests and making sure that companies can't act unscrupulously in Wisconsin," Doyle spokesperson Dan Leistikow said. "In the end, he just could not in good conscience put his signature on this bill."

Critics point to rent-to-own stores — which sell items in a set of installments — as deceitful businesses that target low-income consumers who end up paying largely inflated prices.

Supporters of the bill, however, said it would have provided the protection consumers need by requiring the rent-to-own businesses to disclose the total dollar amount of an item, as well as whether it could be purchased somewhere else for less.

"SB 268, Consumer Rental Purchase Reform, would have created the strongest consumer protections in the country for rental-purchase agreements," bill author Sen. Ronald Brown, R-Eau Claire, said in a release.

But opponents countered that the bill instead would have weakened the Wisconsin Consumer Act by creating an exemption for an ill-intentioned industry, making state law prone to a slippery-slope scenario in which other businesses could get exemptions in the future.

"Wisconsin has a very proud tradition of strong consumer-protection laws that level the playing field for consumers up against bigger entities than themselves," said Kelley Flury, spokesperson for Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit. "[This bill] takes away more consumer protections than it adds."

Namely, the bill would have allowed rent-to-own businesses not to report charges in the form of an annual percentage rate.

While lawmakers continue to debate the bill's merits, some also question the governor's decision to veto it.

Brown, along with other bill supporters, said there were indications the governor would sign the legislation, leaving some baffled when Doyle chose to veto it.

Leistikow, however, maintained the governor had never indicated he would sign the bill and simply made a decision "consistent with his long-standing views of rent-to-own."

"Anyone who knows the governor shouldn't be surprised that this is the decision that he made," he said.