URGENT ACTION TO SAVE TOLL COLLECTION REFORM

CALLS NEEDED NOW TO SAVE TOLL COLLECTION REFORM

We’ve been told that the toll collection reform amendment that we support, by Rep. Ina Minjarez of San Antonio, is under threat of having its key provision - to decriminalize people who cannot pay toll fines/fees -- stripped from the TxDOT Sunset Bill SB 312. If lawmakers keep the current law in place for what they call a 'habitual toll violator,' that means that if a person simply has a payment card expire and they pass under a toll gantry 100 times, they can be labeled a habitual toll violator and have their vehicle impounded, be taken to court, and be taken to jail if they fail to appear in court. This is a very low threshold and easy to have happen. Toll gantries record vehicle license plates/toll tags and are positioned every 3-5 miles on toll roads. So a driver can pass through 10-20 per day and be deemed a habitual toll violator in under 30 days. By the time a driver is even notified in their monthly statement that there’s a problem, they’re already a ‘habitual toll violator’ and face criminal penalties if they don’t pay up. This doesn’t even touch on the erroneous billing problems that bring the same severe criminal consequences to folks who never even got on a toll road.

No Texan should have their ability to drive and hence have their ability to make a living threatened for failure to pay a fine, especially one handed down so easily and so prone to abuse. The House voted in favor of this amendment by an overwhelming majority of 136-3. But some want it removed, including TxDOT.

URGENT ACTION ITEM

Please contact conference committee members IMMEDIATELY and ask them to:

“Keep the Minjarez Amendment #39 in tact in SB 312 and retain the House language that de-criminalizes toll violations and ends this horrific abuse that has financially ruined thousands of Texans."

Senate Conferees:

Robert Nichols

(512) 463-0103

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Twitter: @SenRobertNichol

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorRobertNichols/

Van Taylor

(512) 463-0108

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Twitter: @VanTaylorTX

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VanForTexas/

Juan ‘Chuy' Hinojosa