Senate Moves to Reform Driver Responsibility Program
The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a proposal that would weaken the state’s Driver Responsibility Program, which critics say has unfairly penalized poor Texans.
The program requires drivers convicted of certain traffic offenses to pay annual surcharges, on top of court fines and criminal penalties, to maintain their drivers' licenses. More than 1.2 million Texans currently have their driver's licenses suspended under the program, which was created in 2003 to address a budget shortfall. Some lawmakers have defended the program because it sends millions of dollars each year to hospitals and trauma centers.
Under Senate Bill 93, the surcharges would continue but drivers would no longer have their licenses suspended for failing to pay.
“It’s time to give hardworking Texas families relief from this broken double jeopardy program that is doing more harm than good,” said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, the bill’s author, in a statement.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/21/senate-moves-reform-driver-responsibility-program/
