Relates to suspension of a license for failure to pay a fine for impaired driving violations

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Jeremy Cooney says this is needed

Chapters 382 of the Laws of 2020 and 76 of the Laws of 2021 made some important fundamental policy changes by encouraging the use of payment plans for the payment of fines imposed for traffic violations and elimi- nating the use of license suspension as a tool to leverage payments. Section 1197 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law established the NYS STOP-DWI Program (Chapters 910 and 913 of the Laws 1981) which had two core components: the establishment of a mandatory fine scheme, and the trans- mission of any such fines to the county of conviction if such county established a STOP-DWI Program charged with establishing a comprehen- sive, locally-based plan designed specifically to reduce the incidence of alcohol and other drug-related crashes. This became the nation's first offender-funded program to attack the pervasive dangers presented by impaired drivers. In the first 10 years of the Program, the likeli- hood of being killed by an impaired driver was reduced by almost 70%. The purpose of this legislation is to reconcile these two laws by making clear that fines imposed by impaired drivers at any level should be imposed and collected in accordance with the provisions of Section 1197. The amendments do not, however, impair the provision of the 2020 Chapter that encourages the use of payment plans for the payment of all fines and surcharges, including those imposed for impaired driving offenses.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.