Oklahoma lawmakers and policy experts held a hearing Tuesday to examine driver's license suspension policies and their economic impact on the state's workforce. The hearing, led by Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Sapulpa, focused on whether current suspension practices are appropriate and economically sound.
An estimated 180,000 people in Oklahoma have suspended driver's licenses, according to testimony presented at the hearing. Michael Olson, policy counsel for Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, estimated that if people with suspended licenses stopped driving, Oklahoma's workforce would shrink by approximately 9 percent. That decline would be significantly larger than the 2 percent workforce reduction Oklahoma experienced during the 2008 recession, according to the testimony.
The hearing explored reasons for suspensions, which include failure to pay traffic or court fines, failure to appear in court, financial responsibility violations, and driving offenses such as DUIs. Sarah Couture, a regional director for the Fines and Fees Justice Center, said the average length of a suspension for failure to pay in Oklahoma is three years and two months.
Couture estimated that ending debt-based license suspensions could provide Oklahoma with a net fiscal tax revenue benefit of more than $42 million. "Debt-based driver's license suspension costs people their livelihoods, it cuts economic growth, it undermines public safety and it does not compel payment of debts," she said.
The lawmakers also heard about efforts in other states. Ohio's House Bill 29 retroactively eliminated suspensions for failure to pay traffic tickets, affecting over 7,000 people who regained their legal driving status. The law was supported by the Ohio Manufacturers' Association and other business groups.