Bill targets suspension of licenses for unpaid tickets
Report found that the practice is driving low-income motorists deeper into poverty.
SAN FRANCISCO — A state senator has proposed legislation that would reduce the number of driver’s license suspensions incurred for unpaid traffic citations that do not affect public safety, after a report found that low-income Californians are being driven further into poverty by the practice.
State Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) announced details of Senate Bill 405 on Wednesday, the same day that a coalition of civil rights and legal aid groups released a report noting that 4.2 million Californians have had their driver’s licenses suspended over the last eight years after failing to pay escalating traffic fees and fines.
Only 71,000 have been restored.
“So many local jurisdictions pile on fees for minor traffic violations to make up for lost revenue during the recent economic recession,” Hertzberg said in a statement. “This trend makes it even more difficult to find and keep a job. What’s happened is a situation where minor traffic tickets can push a family deep into debt.”
The legislation would help those with a current suspension for nonviolent offenses such as broken taillights or expired tags to get their driving privileges restored, he said, as long as they paid their debt in full.
It would seek to match beneficiaries with an amnesty program proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
That program aims to reduce fees and fines by 50% for eligible participants over an 18-month period.
A portion of the money raised by Brown’s proposed amnesty would be earmarked for two insolvent funds that provide training for local law enforcement.
Uncollected court-ordered debt in California has burgeoned to more than $10 billion, and by reducing fines the proposed amnesty program aims to encourage payment.
The legislative analyst’s office, however, has urged lawmakers to reject the governor’s proposal, saying that it is unlikely to raise the needed dollars and could dissuade those who owe money from paying in the future.
Hertzberg called the use of driver’s license suspensions to compel payment “a Catch-22 that traps people in a cycle of poverty.”
Under existing law, it is virtually impossible for the driver’s license to be restored — or in most counties to obtain a hearing before a judge — until all the unpaid fees, fines and penalties imposed by outside collection agencies have been paid in full.