Bill Would Require Payment of
Court Fees to Renew Car Registration

By withholding car registration renewal until all court fees are paid, state Sen. Mike Stack today said he has found a way to bring significant money back into the state and cut the budget deficit.

He has introduced Senate Bill 836, which would require individuals to pay all outstanding fees and fines owed to the Court of Common Pleas before they can have their car registration renewed. Once an individual pays their fines, surcharges, fees, or penalties, the court would provide PennDOT with authorization to renew the person’s vehicle registration.

“We’re in a crisis in Pennsylvania,” Stack said. “We are facing a $4 billion deficit and a governor who believes the only answer is to cut and slash our way to a balanced budget. Pennsylvanians can’t afford more cuts right now, so we must find creative ways to bring in revenue. Senate Bill 836 is a real solution.”

Stack joined state Rep. John Sabatina (D-Phila.), Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery and Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Pamela Dembe at the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia to discuss his legislation.

“There must be real consequences for ignoring court costs and, considering our state’s budget deficit, we need to bring that money back to the state now,” said Sabatina, who authored similar legislation, House Bill 1125. “This legislation is a solid way to both entice people to repay their outstanding dues and greatly reduce the deficit.”


There are currently $1.6 billion dollars in unpaid fines, costs, fees and restitution owed to common please courts throughout Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Municipal Court alone is owed $205.7 million.

“This money can go a long way to restore funding to the courts and help cut the budget deficit,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery said the legislation is another tool judges can use to let people know that they have to pay their fines and fees, thus better ensuring future court fees are paid.

“We need something besides the threat of jail to help people understand that they can’t leave court and ignore their fees and restitution,” McCaffery said. “This legislation would give us a middle ground.”

Dembe called the legislation a cost effective way to keep prison costs in check.

“If we put people in jail we have to pay to keep them there. That means fewer jail cells that should be reserved for people who are truly dangerous,” she said. “Plus, if they’re in jail they’re out of the workforce, which means they can’t pay their court fees anyway.”

In light of the state’s $4 billion deficit and a budget plan from the governor that calls for $1 billion in cuts to basic education alone, Stack said his legislation would ease the budget pain without raising taxes or seeking new ways to generate revenue.

“We don’t have to make basic education a sacrificial lamb to help fill the deficit,” Stack said. “These uncollected delinquent fees and fines belong to the state. By collecting these payments, we could cut the deficit nearly in half. It’s just common sense.

“Hinging registration renewal on paying one’s court fees would give people a real incentive to pay up,” Stack said. “These are people who need to get to work, to school, to the store and more. If this isn’t incentive to pay their outstanding fees, I don’t know what is.”

Senate Bill 836 is currently in the Senate Transportation Committee.

from Senator Stack's office

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great Idea! About time the Wellies/Reliefers/Druggies start paying back all of their handouts!

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