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Driver
Responsibility
Fees
waived
for all
Detroiters
from
October
1
•
Legislation
waives
over
$100
million
in fees
for more
than
70,000
Detroiters
•
License
reinstatement
fees
also
waived
until
December
31
•
More
than
1,600
Detroiters
received
early
forgiveness
after
participating
in
workforce
training
DETROIT
- Today,
more
than
70,000
Detroiters
will
have
their
Driver
Responsibility
Fees
waived
as
legislation
from the
State of
Michigan
comes
into
force,
saving
city
residents
over
$100
million
in
unpaid
fees.
The City
of
Detroit
launched
an early
forgiveness
program
in May,
resulting
in more
than
1,600
Detroiters
being
able to
have
their
fees
waived
by
completing
10 hours
of
workforce
education
through
Detroit
at Work.
That
included
Detroiters
like
Sterling
Dickerson,
a
medical
screener
whose
license
was
restored
in July
after
$2,000
in
Driver
Responsibility
Fees
were
forgiven.
“Having
my
license
back has
opened
more
opportunities
for me,”
said
Dickerson.
“With my
new job
position
I will
have
opportunities
to
travel
around
the
country.
Having
my
license
reinstated
has made
that
goal
even
more
achievable.”
And
from
October
1, all
Detroiters
who lost
their
licenses
due to
unpaid
Driver
Responsibility
Fees
will
have
those
fees
waived
automatically
and can
apply to
have
their
licenses
reinstated
if they
have no
other
outstanding
actions
on their
license.
“Driver
Responsibility
Fees
have
been one
of the
biggest
barriers
to
connecting
Detroiters
to jobs
and
opportunity,”
said
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan.
“Detroiters
want to
work.
With
this
issue
behind
them
now,
thousands
of
residents
will
have an
easier
time
getting
hired.”
Having a
driver’s
license
is not
just an
issue
for
logistics
opportunities
like
truck
driving.
Detroit
is
seeing
significant
growth
in
skilled
trades
opportunities,
but
these
jobs
often
require
a
license
because
workers
may need
to be at
a
worksite
on the
east
side in
the
morning
and the
west
side in
the
afternoon.
Mayor
Duggan’s
Director
of
Workforce
Development,
Jeff
Donofrio,
was one
of a
team who
testified
before
the
House
Michigan
Competitiveness
Committee
in
Lansing
during
fall
2017 in
support
of
legislation
to end
Driver
Responsibility
Fees.
The
resulting
legislation
was
passed
earlier
in 2018
with
broad
bi-partisan
support.
"We
would
like to
thank
Legislators
for
their
across-the-aisle
support
of this
legislation”,
said
Donofrio.
“Many
Detroit
residents
have had
offers
of
employment
but
could
not
accept
them
because
their
license
was
suspended,
so we
are
delighted
to see
this
obstacle
to
opportunity
removed.”
Residents
whose
licenses
were
suspended
for
other
violations,
such as
a
failure
to
appear
in court
or
driving
on a
suspended
license,
must
clear
these
issues
before
being
able to
reinstate
their
licenses,
but
these
issues
will not
affect
their
Driver
Responsibility
Fees
which
are
waived
automatically
on
October
1. In
addition,
those
whose
licenses
have
been
suspended
for more
than
four
years
will
need to
retest.
Details
about
reinstating
licenses
are
available
by
visiting
www.detroitatwork.com/DRF,
where
contact
details
are also
available
for the
Michigan
Department
of
Treasury
and the
Secretary
of
State.
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