The Better Drive Act
4/5/2017
Today I introduced the bipartisan Better Drive Act. This bill would repeal a law reducing highway funding for states if they did not automatically suspend drivers licenses of anyone convicted of a drug offense.
Many states have laws that added at least six months of license suspension on top of existing criminal penalties for non-violent drug convictions.
Each year in this country nearly 200,000 driver licenses are suspended for non-driving offenses, 13,000 in the state of Texas.
Finding employment and earning legal income is crucial for people trying to stay out of the criminal justice system. Further, we know that license suspensions undermine recovery efforts for those with drug use problems and the formerly incarcerated.
I introduced this bill with with Congressman Amash, Congressman Jeffries, Congressman Sensenbrenner, Congressman Nadler, and Congresswoman Love.
You can read the text of the bill below.
