NJ Sen. Shirley K. Turner / courtesy photo

In an Aug. 20, 2018, op-ed piece in The Star-Ledger, state Sen. Shirley K. Turner commented on the recently issued report of the New Jersey Supreme Court on the municipal court system in our state. Sen. Turner said that she has introduced legislation “to eliminate the oppressive motor vehicle surcharge system, which levies monetary sanctions that are charged each year for three years, accumulate interest, and are added to any court imposed fines and penalties.” Under the existing system, drivers who fail to pay such surcharges face license suspension and often financial hardship resulting therefrom.

We wish now to express support for the legislative proposal of Sen. Turner designed to address the hardship that often befalls the poor, in particular because of the aforementioned surcharges and the license suspensions that frequently result therefrom. The bill now pending in the Legislature (S-1080) provides in section 3 that persons whose driver's licenses have been suspended or revoked for failure to pay certain surcharges levied by the chief administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission (subject to agreement to a payment plan and/or attendance at a driver improvement program offered by the commission) be allowed to utilize what is sometimes referred to as a “restricted license” while serving a period of suspension. The reason for this proposal is to allow persons (especially those residing in-low income areas) to continue in employment and maintain other critical obligations such as medical appointments, child care and schooling which otherwise would not be available due to a license suspension. As Sen. Turner has observed, such policy would “enable more people to be employable, maintain their jobs and pay down their debt. More than 38 states offer restrictive use licenses.”

We urge the Legislature to act favorably on the proposed legislation. We can see no harm from such enactment and, in the words of Sen. Turner, “the opportunity for the poor to be put on the road to economic and social justice.”