A program that unfairly tags the poor

The Texas Driver Responsibility Program was created in 2003 with good intentions, but it has been a hellish road to travel for countless Texans. The program should be repealed, and bipartisan legislation filed this session would accomplish this feat.

The Driver Responsibility Program hits drivers with annual surcharges for three years for certain violations. This is on top of fines and court costs. These surcharges can be as high as $2,000 a year for some offenses. These surcharges are then used to support the general revenue fund and trauma care.

So, in broad strokes, the idea is to punish bad or dangerous drivers with additional fines, which are then used to support areas in the state budget that would benefit from additional funding. What’s not to like?

None of it.

Here’s why the Driver Responsibility Program does not work: At the most basic level it unfairly punishes low-income drivers who are less likely to afford the surcharges. Consider a $1,000 surcharge for a first-time DWI offender. A wealthy driver is more likely to afford this surcharge. A poor driver is less likely. Unpaid surcharges result in a suspended license. It’s the same offense, but two different incomes can lead to two different outcomes. According to a recent lawsuit against the state, filed by the Austin Community Law Center and Equal Justice Under the Law, more than 1.4 million Texans have had their licenses suspended for failing to pay the surcharges.

But that does not mean those drivers are not driving. They still need to get to work, right? Some will drive without valid licenses. Some will lose their jobs, which will make it that much harder to pay the surcharges and get their licenses back. Consider the case of Nathan Alexander, a plaintiff in the Equal Justice lawsuit. He was arrested for drunken driving in 2017. He paid court fees and went to rehab. But he was blindsided by the thousands of dollars he would have to pay in surcharges. He has turned down construction jobs because he cannot drive.

Because so many drivers cannot afford the surcharges, the Driver Responsibility Program delivers some funding but not what was anticipated. Not even close.

Sen Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, and Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, have filed legislation to repeal the Driver Responsibility Program. The program has been an abject failure. End the program, and dedicate appropriate funding for trauma care from the general revenue fund.