The wrangling over the state's steep new fines on bad Virginia drivers intensified Monday as a suburban Richmond judge ruled that the fees are constitutional, and fresh evidence emerged that legislators and the governor may have enacted the fees without fully researching the effect on the poor of comparable programs in other states.
I'm wondering whether the allegation above, that the legislators/governor failed to consider the negative effect on the poor, will play into the fall's campaigning.
It seems that the Post obtained a copy of a Texas report dated January 2007 (a month before the legislation was approved), which said that abuser fees concept was failing in Texas because people could not afford to pay the fees.
According to the Texas Legislative Budget Board, the state has reported a collection rate of 29 percent since the fees went into effect in 2003. As of a year ago, in 55 percent of cases, involving 828,000 licenses, licenses were suspended because fees were not paid, the report says.Last month, The Post reported that the licenses of tens of thousands of motorists in New Jersey and Michigan -- including many low-income drivers -- have been suspended because of unpaid fees. Michigan judges are calling for repeal of the program because they are seeing an influx of motorists cited for driving on suspended licenses, which prompts a new round of fees that many cannot afford.
Who would have thought that this rushed, ridiculous legislation would be enacted just five months before these key fall elections!!! The drama continues!!!