By : Andrew Theen
https://muckrack.com/andrew-theen/articles
Oregon’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Tuesday that seeks to eliminate a state policy where residents could have their driver’s licenses suspended for failing to pay a traffic ticket, in some cases for up to 20 years if they didn’t pay up.
HB 4065 passed the House with bipartisan support 42-16.
If approved, Oregon would join California, Montana, Mississippi and Idaho in passing similar legislation.
The Oregon Law Center, a nonprofit legal rights group, estimates that 334,338 such suspensions have been issued in the past decade.
Rep. Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, said losing driving privileges can be a serious detriment to Oregonians’ way of life and means to make a living. “Suspending a license deprives people of reliable, lawful transportation necessary to get to and from work, or to their critical obligations,” Gorsek said in a statement. “A system that relies on debt-based driver license suspensions creates a vicious cycle of increasing debt and wastes state resources. Public safety should not be tied to debt collection, and this bill is an important move to create a public safety system where everyone can thrive.”
Proponents pushed for the bill because they argued the long-held state practice also disproportionally affects people of color and low-income residents.
The issue brought together politicians from both sides of the aisle, who argued that the punitive measures under existing state practice were unfair.
Driving privileges would still be suspended or revoked for reckless driving and drunken driving, or if a ticketed driver fails to show up to court. The previous suspension rules kicked in if ticketed drivers failed to pay within 60 days after ordered to do so. A Democratic spokesman said the rest of the process is still the same: Fines can be sent to a collection’s agency, or a payment plan can be initiated, or wages could be garnished – the only difference being is that you won’t also have your license suspended.
A similar bill failed in the 2019 session.
In documents supporting the bill, Lincoln County Commissioner Claire Hall argued that the policy was another example of criminalizing being poor in Oregon, “and this is one of the more insidious ones.”
She also noted that nearly three-quarters of Oregonians over the age of 16 drive to work, and much of the state doesn’t have access to public transit.
“Suspending driver’s licenses for inability to pay fines further traps individuals in the vicious, downward spiral of poverty and should be abolished,” she wrote.
If approved, the bill would be effective Oct. 1, but it first heads to the Senate.
https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2020/02/bill-to-prevent-oregon-from-suspending-drivers-licenses-for-unpaid-traffic-tickets-passes-house.html