More than 600,000 Texans will immediately be eligible to have their driver’s licenses reinstated after the program’s Sept. 1 repeal. The system was widely criticized for adding additional annual fees on top of the price of tickets, but all pending surcharges will soon be waived.
Driver Responsibility Program
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Texas Senate passes bill to kill program that critics say can trap poor people in a cycle of debt
The bill to end the unpopular program, which adds annual surcharges on top of traffic fines — and prompts the suspension of millions of driver’s licenses — is headed for Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. If he signs it, pending surcharges will be dropped.
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Texas Legislature 2019
Texas may finally kill a program that can land poor people in jail for traffic fines
The Texas House tentatively approved a bill Thursday that would repeal the tough-to-kill Driver Responsibility Program, which critics say traps low-income drivers in a cycle of debt.
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Criminal Justice
To pay for trauma centers, state program sinks thousands of Texas drivers into deep debt
In Texas, people with unpaid traffic tickets can lose their driver’s licenses and even go to jail because of the Driver Responsibility Program. Though lawmakers acknowledge the policy disproportionately hurts the poor, they’ve struggled to eliminate it.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Lawmakers failed to end troubled Driver Responsibility Program
Mandy Mann thought she had paid her dues for a 2009 traffic stop. But six years later, the Waco mom was stopped and arrested — for failing to comply with the state’s troubled Driver Responsibility Program.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers say Driver Responsibility Program repeal unlikely this session
A measure to repeal the widely unpopular program made it out of the House but died before hitting the Senate floor.
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Criminal Justice
Lawmakers Compare Unpopular Driver Surcharge Program to Debtors’ Prison
State senators expressed bipartisan disapproval Wednesday of an unpopular program that levies large surcharges on drivers for traffic offenses, with several calling for broad changes or scrapping it entirely.
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Criminal Justice
Senate Moves to Reform Driver Responsibility Program
The Texas Senate voted Thursday to weaken the state’s Driver Responsibility Program, which critics say unfairly penalizes poor Texans.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Traffic Surcharge Program Straps Some Texas Drivers
For years, critics have called for an end to the Driver Responsibility Program. But because the program brings in millions of dollars every year, it has proved stubbornly hard to kill.
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Criminal Justice
Despite Changes, Driver Surcharge Program Faces Continued Opposition
UPDATED: Lawmakers are unlikely to abolish the Driver Responsibility Program next year, but at a hearing Monday, they encouraged critics of it to submit recommendations for reform.