Kaine: Repeal driver fees

Governor outlines goals in annual legislative message

Thursday, Jan 10, 2008

By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine last night urged scrapping the bad-driving fees that triggered a voter revolt last fall and that further splintered the legislature that will largely shape his legacy over the next two months.

In a surprise start to the symbolic midpoint of his four-year term, Kaine said the penalties -- part of last year's hard-fought multibillion-dollar fix for transportation -- are a flop.

"The abuser-fee idea has flunked with our voters, and we should acknowledge it and move on," Kaine said to enthusiastic huzzahs in his State of the Commonwealth message to a joint session of the General Assembly.

The cash penalties, some of which were four figures and payable over three years, outraged Virginians because they did not apply to out-of-state drivers. Further, the fees are under challenge in courts across the state.

Kaine, a Democrat, and the Republican leadership initially defended the fees and vowed to repair them. But support for the penalties was further weakened by a recent study by the General Assembly's investigative arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, that they would fall short of generating the projected $65 million a year for roads and rails.

"One part of our transportation plan clearly is not working," Kaine said. "Virginia citizens in huge numbers have told us that the fees should be repealed. We should listen to them. I hope that this session, you will send to my desk a bill fully repealing the abusive-driver fees."

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The link

I lived in Virginia for 3 years (law school). Like most east coast urban areas, it is overcrowded and therefore overlegislated. Driving over the state border, the first thing you see is a HUGE sign with a list of about 10 things you cannot do in that state, ranging from speeding to driving without a seatbelt, to carrying a handgun--Just one big list, shouting out all the laws you could possibly violate in the next 10 minutes. Living there as a student, I remember paying property taxes on a car that I OWNED and had already paid sales tax on. I remember county parking fees. If you parked your car on the street in a county (even if you lived there) without a parking sticker for that county, they'd ticket you. My husband at the time finally gave up his old Toyota after it got ticketed and booted so many times he couldn't afford it. And no, we weren't given a break because we were temporary residents. No wonder the citizens of Virigina have finally rebelled. I love Texas even though I'm not from here because Texans would never put up with that and thankfully, don't have to.

Um, Kim, we have all those fees they're rebelling against in Virginia . . .

Seriously, the fees broke the camel's back in Va., is my point.

I guess people here aren't fired up because it does not seem that the fees are getting collected.

They aren't getting collected in VA either; part of the reason their governor is giving for repeal is the low collections.

Just watch. That will wind up (officially) being the fault of county-level folks who just aren't working hard enough to hold scofflaws' collective feet to the fire. Mark my words.

Doesn't the fee in Texas apply only to DWIs? It sort of sounds like in Va. your license fee goes up for every ticket you got.

Not sure I have my facts straight, but if that is the difference, I can see why its a non-issue in Texas and a Big Deal in Va.

No, it's not limited to DWIs -- those are just the harshest fees.

The Texas surcharges apply in smaller amounts to No Insurance, DWLI*, and maybe other offenses, plus the simple accrual of too many "points" on your driving record due to multiple traffic offenses.

(*yes, that's correct -- if your license is suspended for not paying a surcharge and you get stopped for DWLI, the state adds ANOTHER surcharge on top of the one you didn't pay in the first place. Brilliant, eh?)

I think the difference between here and Virginia is that we have a governor and a legislature who have "balanced" the budget for several sessions in a row by imposing these surcharges and other fees (as opposed to raising taxes). If you get rid of the surcharge, you have to have another alternative on paper in order to get the budget certified as balanced.

The fact that the penalty for nonpayment of these fees is another DWLI or DWLS charge, that further crowds the docket and places more work on the county is a small price to pay for being able to say, "We balanced the budget and we did so without new taxes."

As to collection, is there a mechanism in place for a collection action, other than the threat of repeated criminal charges? I guess you could dimiss the DWLI charge in exchange for coming current on the surcharge arrearage.

I think they recently passed a law to allow DPS to use a collection agency but DPS has not actually started doing this yet.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) -- Kajuan Cornish didn't know he was such a danger on his bicycle, and now he's facing hefty fees that could have paid for him to have a car.

One day after Gov. Timothy M. Kaine admitted the state's so-called abusive driver fees had failed and called for them to be repealed, Cornish was ordered to pay a fee of $1,050 for recklessly operating his 18-speed Huffy in an intersection during rush hour.

[....]

Link to full story:
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7609045&nav=menu45_2

RICHMOND, Va. � The Senate finally passed its bill to repeal high fees on bad drivers Wednesday by resolving a partisan impasse over how to rebate fees already courts already imposed.

The 39-0 vote marks the first passage by the House or the Senate of a bill that not only repeals the hated surcharges assessed exclusively on Virginians but also refunds fees already collected and excuses payments still due.

Rest here

TribBlog: Relieving Driver Debt

March 5, 2010

Today, the Texas Department of Public Safety released proposed new rules that would make it easier for poor Texans with traffic tickets to get right with the law. Texas adopted the so-called Driver Responsibility Program in 2003. Under the program, drivers who get certain kinds of tickets have to pay huge annual surcharges to the DPS in order to keep their driver's licenses. Only what was happening was that thousands of Texans weren't paying and they were losing their licenses, winding up in already crowded courts and jails.

So, last year, lawmakers told DPS to revamp the program to make it easier for poor people to pay off the fines and stay out of the hoosegow.

Full Texas Tribune article available here

For the details, click here:

Texas Register - DPS proposal