23rd
Debate Continues Over Driver Responsibility Surcharges
Check out this post: http://capitolannex.com/2010/03/23/debate-continues-over-driver-responsibility-surcharges/) The debate over whether or not the Driver Responsibility Surcharge is worth keeping on the books is continuing, this time with State Rep. Debbie Riddle (R-Keller) bending the truth about how much money the program has actually raised for trauma centers. For those unfamiliar with the Driver Responsibility Surcharge, it was part of the Driver Responsibility Act—one of several pieces of legislation passed to generate more money for state coffers back in 2003 when Texas was facing a major budget shortfall and Republican leaders attempted to balance that on the backs of poor and middle class Texans. The Dallas Morning News, via Grits, wrote about the surcharge being a failure back in January:
The state has collected more than $672 million, but none of it has gone to highways. And just a fraction has gone to trauma centers, said Shapleigh, who noted that the original push for the program came during the state’s budget crunch in 2003, when lawmakers were scrambling for new revenue sources. The money is sitting in the state Treasury. The law that created the program required that collections pass a certain threshold before money is allocated. Drunken-driving offenses carry the biggest surcharges – $1,000 a year for three years on the first conviction and $2,000 a year when the driver’s blood-alcohol level is twice the legal limit. Driving with an invalid license or without insurance draws a $250-a-year surcharge for three years. Critics of the program said many of those affected by the surcharges are first-time offenders, students, single parents and low-income residents faced with the choice of either complying with the law or paying for necessities such as food, rent, car repairs and medical bills.Even though only a fraction of the funds have gone to trauma centers, State Rep. Vicki Truitt claims significant improvements thanks to the program:
State Rep. Vicki Truitt, R-Keller, said the program has drastically improved the availability of trauma care in hospitals statewide. “This fund helps to pay for the services provided to those patients whose bills would otherwise go unpaid or for which the public would be ultimately responsible for picking up the tab for their care,” she said.Somehow, what Truitt says versus what Shapleigh said in January don’t seem to jibe. Either way, the fact remains that the Driver Responsibility Surcharge legislation has been a dismal failure:
More than 5 million Texans have been hit by about $1.8 billion in surcharges. But only about $700 million of that has been paid, state records show. As a result, more than 1.2 million Texas drivers have lost their licenses because they didn’t pay, records from the Texas Department of Public Safety show.According to those statistics, only 38 percent of surcharges levied have been paid. That should tell us something—namely, that those upon whom the surcharges are levied cannot afford to pay. From January’s Morning News story:
Critics of the program said many of those affected by the surcharges are first-time offenders, students, single parents and low-income residents faced with the choice of either complying with the law or paying for necessities such as food, rent, car repairs and medical bills. The financial penalties are so high that they are counterproductive and provide an incentive for people not to pay, the critics contend. And the surcharges come as a surprise; there’s been little effort by the state to inform the public that the program exists. Police typically don’t mention them upon issuing a ticket, and drivers are notified, often months later, in a letter from the state.When a surcharge program has fees so high that it is forcing people to decide between food and a driver’s license, that’s clearly too high of a surcharge amount. Let’s hope that the 82nd Texas Legislature does something about this when it convenes next January.
