The Second Chance Workforce Act (House Bill 926) is supposed to make it easier for low-income Georgia residents to keep their driving privileges. If you depend on your vehicle for work and you risk losing your license, it makes sense to become familiar with House Bill 926. However, its intended effects have been less encouraging than many hoped, and an experienced traffic ticket lawyer in Georgia may still be necessary to pursue positive outcomes.
How Does House Bill 926 Make It Easier to Keep Your License?
In theory, House Bill 926 makes it easier to keep your license. This law states that if you are supposed to appear at traffic court, you can simply reschedule your court date to get your driving privileges back. The goal was to make it easier for low-income drivers to maintain their driving privileges, as the previous system enforced a $100 reinstatement fee. A driver also had to go through the traffic court hearing before getting their license back. HB 926 also waived the $100 fee for low-income drivers. Previously, low-income drivers only qualified for a 50% reduction.
Why HB 926 Did Not Have Its Intended Effect
Although lawmakers passed HB 926, the Department of Driver Services (DDS) seemingly did not agree with it. This is because the DDS introduced new rules of its own that effectively canceled out the improvements brought about by HB 926. According to the Reason Foundation, one of these rules makes it almost impossible to submit a “pauper’s affidavit” by mail. The pauper’s affidavit is what allows drivers to have their $100 reinstatement fee waived.
This means that most low-income drivers must instead visit a DDS customer service center to submit the necessary forms. The Reason Foundation claims that this makes life particularly difficult for rural drivers in Georgia who live nowhere near DDS centers. Others may be too busy with their full-time jobs to visit DDS centers.
The whole point of the Second Chance Workforce Act was to keep low-income drivers in their vehicles and earning money at work. However, the intended effect is not happening because of continued DDS restrictions. One of the most frustrating restrictions for many drivers is the 30-day waiting period after a reinstatement denial. If you depend on your vehicle for work, a month of lost driving privileges can be extremely detrimental, potentially pushing you even deeper into poverty.
The problem is that the DDS commissioner apparently has the legal authority to create whatever rules and restrictions they think are necessary, even if these restrictions conflict with laws voted on and passed by Georgia’s elected lawmakers. The Reason Foundation believes that lawmakers must curtail the commissioner’s right to do this if these conflicts continue to cause problems for average drivers in Georgia.
Can a Traffic Ticket Lawyer in Georgia Help Me?
Although the Second Chance Workforce Act is effective on paper, the Department of Driver Services’ decision to supersede these laws makes it challenging to keep your license as a hardworking, low-income driver. Until the DDS rolls back these restrictions or lawmakers enforce HB 926, it may be necessary to work with an experienced traffic ticket lawyer in Georgia to keep your license. Contact Lankford & Moore Law today to learn more about the next potential steps.
