Good News for Me

Virginia repealed their “Abusive Driver Civil Penalties.”  These were additional civil fines tacked on top of other traffic fines, and they applied only to Virginia drivers.  The whole state stood up with a collective WTF and demanded it be repealed.  It was.

From Virginia State Senator Chap Petersen’s email-

Abuser Fees: Are finally dead. The House and Senate had passed two separate versions, incorporating my SB 443, for “repeal and refund” of the notorious fees. Our joint bill repeals the fees, refunds payments made and reinstates the license of those who couldn’t afford to pay.

On Friday, I was appointed one of three Senate “conferees” to hammer out the final details of the repeal. We met with lawyers from the Attorney General and Supreme Court, and then presented the conference report Saturday to the full Senate. In order for the law to take effect immediately, it needed a 4/5 vote.

On the floor, I urged Senators to approve the report. Amazingly, some across the aisle opposed it (despite the blessing of the Republican attorney general). The bill only passed by a vote of 30-10, which meant that the abuser fee law — one of the stupidest and most unpopular laws ever passed in Virginia — would stay in effect until July 1st.

Hello? Anybody home? After a brief recess, the Republican caucus leader asked for reconsideration of the vote. It was granted. On the second chance, the repeal passed 37-3. It will take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

I wasn’t a victim of this law…  Yet.  But I certainly felt it was unfair since I would be one of the likely targets of it.