MS Free Press: “Driver’s license suspensions over unpaid fines have long triggered a devastating domino effect on poor Americans, costing them not only their ability to commute, but their jobs and livelihood. But the 35 states that continue to enforce such penalties could find new reasons to reconsider if a bill that U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, introduced today becomes law.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety stopped suspending driver’s licenses over unpaid fines and fees in 2017, becoming one of the first states to do so. In 2018, Mississippi began reversing prior suspensions while waiving its $100 reinstatement fee. Supporters of the change note that
Sen. Wicker said today that he hopes the “Driving for Opportunity Act” will encourage other states to follow the Magnolia State’s lead. The legislation would “provide grants to States that do not suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew a driver’s license of a person or refuse to renew a registration of a motor vehicle for failure to pay a civil or criminal fine or fee,” its text says.
“Suspending driver’s licenses for unpaid fines and fees is counterproductive,” Wicker said in a statement announcing the bill. “Americans need access to vehicles to work and to care for their families. My home state of Mississippi rightly banned this practice in 2018. This legislation would encourage other states to follow our lead.”
Mississippi is one of just 15 states that has either completely or mostly stopped suspending licenses for nonpayment of fines alongside California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, New York, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.”