Call to Support the Driving for Opportunity Act
The bipartisan federal Driving for Opportunity Act of 2021 creates incentives to states to end debt-based drivers’ license suspensions. It is moving through Congressional committee mark-up this month and we are hopeful it will gain sufficient support to become law.
Under the License to Work Act, passed in Illinois 2020, and the SAFE-T Act, passed early this year, Illinois stopped suspending drivers’ licenses as a means of traffic-debt enforcement or collection and automatically reinstated thousands of suspended licenses. Under these two laws, Illinois no longer suspends drivers’ licenses for failure to pay tickets or fines and fees related to tickets, nor for truancy.
The federal bill is aimed at ending similar suspensions in all states by authorizing the Department of Justice to make grants to states to cover the costs of reinstating driver’s licenses previously suspended for unpaid fines and fees. The bill also repeals the law that reduces federal highway funding for states that do not suspend driver’s licenses for anyone convicted of a drug offense.
Suspending drivers’ licenses to enforce debt collection is not merely counterproductive but also disproportionally harmful to communities of color and to poor and working class individuals and families. In many places in the United States, a person cannot get to work without having the ability to drive. Suspensions based entirely in debt-collection—instead of public safety—create unnecessary hardships and spawn cycles of debt for millions of Americans.
The federal bill has been introduced by Sen Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sen Roger Wicker (R-Miss). Cosponsoring U.S. are Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and James Lankford (R-Okla.). The Driving for Opportunity Act is supported by a broad coalition of groups spanning the political spectrum, including civil rights and civil liberties advocates, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and defense lawyers. Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed support the legislation as members of the Free to Drive Coalition, headed by the Fines and Fees Justice Center, and as members of the Transit Table, convened by the Chicago Jobs Council.
We hope to see the Driving for Opportunity Act succeed and encourage you to contact your senators in support. Senator Dick Durbin is a co-sponsor of the bill, but Senator Tammy Duckworth has not yet supported the bill.
Click here to send an email to Senator Duckworth in support of the Driving for Opportunity Act.