Chicago Mayor Proposes Reforms That Would Make Life Easier for Thousands of Black and Low-Income Drivers

https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-mayor-lori-lightfoot-ticket-reforms-license-suspensions?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed an end to the city's suspending driver’s licenses over unpaid parking tickets
• She would support legislation to change state law, which would likely bring relief to tens of thousands of mostly black, low-income motorists and lead to a reduction in bankruptcy filings in Chicago
• An additional proposal would lower the down payment requirements for motorists who want to enter a city-sponsored payment plan for their ticket debt. 

• Ten unpaid parking tickets can trigger a driver’s license suspension. 
• Around 55,000 licenses are currently suspended because of parking ticket debt...If passed, the legislation would apply retroactively, meaning those motorists’ driving privileges could be restored

Community partners: 

• Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) focuses on: how to make ticket debt less punishing for low-income families
• Chicago Jobs Council - heads advocacy efforts to change state law around license suspensions for non-driving related offenses
• Woodstock Institute -published research report on racial disparities tied to ticketing

Major thoughts:

• “We also realized we needed to reframe our thinking. What if people weren’t trying to skirt the law but simply couldn’t comply with it in the first place?”
• *Drivers From Chicago’s Black Neighborhoods Lose Their Licenses for Unpaid Tickets More Than Other Groups
  • Heat Maps provided in the article to demonstrate this visually