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Chicago City Council Approves Ticket and Debt Reforms to Help LowIncome and Minority Motorists
The Chicago City Council on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of its punitive ticketing and debt collection system, including an end to the suspension of driver’s licenses over unpaid parking tickets.
The reforms begin to deliver on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign promise to stop balancing the budget on the backs of the poor with aggressive fines and fees, an issue that gained attention last year as a result of investigations by ProPublica Illinois in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
The investigations, which showed how unpaid tickets have sent tens of thousands of black and low-income motorists into bankruptcy, were amplified by advocates and community groups that mobilized to persuade city and state legislators to address the effects that ticketing has on low-income and minority communities.
With Wednesday’s 49-1 vote, Chicago becomes the largest U.S. city to enact major reforms to its system of parking fines and fees. City officials, who have estimated the cost at $15 million in lost revenues next year, say more changes are coming.
The reforms begin to deliver on Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign promise to stop balancing the budget on the backs of the poor with aggressive fines and fees, an issue that gained attention last year as a result of investigations by ProPublica Illinois in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago.
The investigations, which showed how unpaid tickets have sent tens of thousands of black and low-income motorists into bankruptcy, were amplified by advocates and community groups that mobilized to persuade city and state legislators to address the effects that ticketing has on low-income and minority communities.
With Wednesday’s 49-1 vote, Chicago becomes the largest U.S. city to enact major reforms to its system of parking fines and fees. City officials, who have estimated the cost at $15 million in lost revenues next year, say more changes are coming.
https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-city-council-approves-ticket-and-debt-collection-reforms