California is the state of high prices and cost of living. This extends to government fees. A new state law is attempting to fix that and reduce the costs of routine traffic violations.
Californians are loving this new state law.
According to The Daily Wire. Around $50 million has been forgiven of San Francisco’s traffic fine debts under a new California law, and about $500 million will be forgiven statewide as well.
According to Anne Stuhldreher, one of the main instigators of the legislation, local courts shouldn’t fund themselves directly from fees.
Stuhldreher said. “California should not fund our local courts by asking the courts to impose fees that they benefit from. Courts should be funded separate and apart from these fees,” “Eliminating the debt from this unfair and unnecessary fee and lowering it is a commonsense reform and an important step forward.”
The San Francisco Treasurer’s Office established the Financial Justice Project to identify and change fines and fees that disproportionately affect minority and low-income populations.
Assembly Bill 199, part of the state’s budget bill, eliminated fees issued before July 1 and provided $10 million in backfill to the courts. Additionally, it reduces the civil assessment fee from $300 to $100. The late fees will now go to California’s general fund rather than to the local court. ABC has more.
The new law will reduce millions in late fees
ABC News reports. According to Assemblyman Phil Ting, civil assessment fees, prior to AB199, extracted $100 million from California courts, primarily from low-income families.
Over $500 million in late fees have been eliminated as a result of this law.
If I was a Californian, I would be loving this new law. No one should be subjected to exorbitant traffic fees like this and the new law is reducing those costs. Finally some good news out of Governor Newsoms state.
