Summary:

A person whose driver’s license is suspended will often find it more difficult to earn a living and therefore pay the debt they owe to the government. The number of individuals with a suspended license also places a burden on the limited resources of law enforcement. This resolution encourages state policymakers to revise laws to limit driver’s license suspensions imposed for violations against the government to conduct that involves offenders with dangerous driving such as drunk driving or multiple moving violations.

Model Resolution:

WHEREAS, driving a vehicle is critically important in the daily lives of most Americans and often essential for getting to work, taking care of a family, and getting groceries; and

WHEREAS, in many small cities, towns, and rural areas that do not have public transportation and ride- sharing alternatives, driving is often the only realistic means of transportation; and

WHEREAS, drunk and dangerous driving is one of the nation’s leading causes of death and serious bodily injury and promoting safety on the roads is a legitimate, necessary, and core governmental function; and

WHEREAS, in Virginia alone nearly 1,000,000 people, or one out of six adults, have suspended driver’s licenses for unpaid court fines and fees; and

WHEREAS, in Texas some 1,800,000 people, have had their driver’s licenses suspended for failure to pay court fines and fees; and

WHEREAS, in California more than 17% of adults have their driver’s licenses suspended; and

WHEREAS, between 2010 and 2017 all but three states increased the amount of fines and fees for civil and criminal violations; and

WHEREAS, nationally 40% percent of all driver license suspensions are issued for conduct that was unrelated to driving; and

WHEREAS, a person whose driver’s license is suspended will often find it more difficult to earn a living and therefore pay the debt they owe to the government; and

WHEREAS, Washington State in 2015 calculated that state troopers spent 70,848 hours dealing with license suspensions for non-driving offenses; and

WHEREAS, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators estimated that arresting someone for driving with a suspended license can take 9 hours of an officer’s time, including waiting for a tow- truck, transporting an individual to jail, filling out paperwork, making a court appearance, and other administrative duties and accordingly Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste called non-driving suspensions “a drain on the system as a whole”; and

WHEREAS, the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles determined that suspending driver’s licenses for offenses unrelated to driving consumed 8,566 hours per year of its staff time; and

WHEREAS, many states impose a significant fee for reinstating a suspended driver’s license, such as Alabama where the fee is $275; and

WHEREAS, to the extent people break the law and drive with a suspended license, it is more likely they are also driving without insurance, thereby placing a greater financial burden on other drivers when they cause an accident; and

WHEREAS, in 2012 the state of Washington enacted legislation to stop suspending driver’s licenses for failure to pay non-moving traffic violations; and

WHEREAS, Congress is considering the Better Drive Act cosponsored by lawmakers such as Congressman James Sensenbrenner, Congresswoman Mia Love, and Congressman Justin Amash that would repeal a federal law that undermines the Tenth Amendment by imposing a federal mandate on driver’s license suspensions for drug offenses that is enforced through withholding federal transportation funds; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the American Legislative Exchange Council encourages state policymakers to revise laws to limit driver’s license suspensions imposed for violations against the government to conduct that involves offenders with dangerous driving such as drunk driving or multiple moving violations.