Lawmakers in Lansing want to get rid of driver responsibility fees sooner than expected.
There’s already a law to phase out the fees completely in 20-19. But lawmakers say that’s not soon enough. They want the fee to be gone by October of next year. And they want people that haven’t paid their fees to be forgiven.
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is in favor of getting rid of the fees. She called it a bipartisan mistake in need of a bipartisan solution.
“It’s the responsible thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.”
Democratic Senator Curtis Hertel is a bill sponsor. He says the fees keep people from entering the workforce – which prevents them from paying the fees.
“We’re trying to get blood from a rock. And at the end of the day these fees are unfair and they’ve been a huge problem getting people back to work. Especially those that are trying to recover from the economy or those that have come out of prison.”
Republican Senator Dave Hildenbrand is a bill sponsor. He’s also worked on the state budget. He says the budget impact would likely take care of itself.
“When you have 300 thousand people potentially back being productive citizens, getting jobs, going back to work, paying taxes, buying things – we will see benefits of that from a revenue standpoint as well.”
The driver responsibility fees are already scheduled to be completely phased out in October of 20-19. The legislation would get rid of the fees by October of 20-18, and forgive outstanding fines.