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Minutes for SB500 - Committee on Judiciary
Short Title
Providing restricted driver's privileges for certain individuals that fail to comply with a citation, authorizing certain individuals with revoked driver's licenses to be eligible for restricted driving privileges and permitting such individuals to drive to and from dropping off or picking up children from school or child care.
Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 15, 2024
Chairwoman Warren opened the hearing on SB500
Jenna Moyer, Revisor's Office, provided an overview of the bill and stood for questions. (Attachment 13)
Natalie Nelson, Kansas Legislative Research Department (KLRD), handed out the 'Report of the Special Committee on Restricted Driving Privileges to the 2024 Kansas Legislature'. (Attachment 14), (Attachment 15),(Attachment 16), (Attachment 17)
Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Kansas Senator, District 29, provided testimony in support of SB500. She stated this bill will include drivers with certain conditions and allow them to drive back and forth to work, school, etc., while making payments towards their fines. (Attachment 18)
Senator Faust-Goudeau introduced the group of women in red in the audience today as members of the the Delta Sigma Theta sorority for their day at the capital. Chairwoman Warren welcomed them to the capital.
Lacy Black, Manager of Drivers Solutions, Division of Vehicles, provided testimony in support of the bill. Drivers Solutions is the department responsible for receiving and processing applications and issuing restricted driving privileges. She stated as long as there is open communication between the department and the Municipal and District Courts to assure the correct information is being submitted KDOR will be able to successfully implement these changes. (Attachment 19)
Ed Klumpp, Legislation Liaison, Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police; Kansas Sheriffs Association; Kansas Peace Officers Association, provided testimony in support of the SB500. The bill still allows the courts to hold violator of the law accountable, an important feature of the bill that allows us to support it. (Attachment 20) Mr. Klumpp also provided a correction to his testimony on February 19, 2024. (Attachment 21)
William Wilk, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Kansas Chamber, provided testimony in support of the bill, moving his testimony from neutral to proponent. They continue to hear from their members that access to qualified workforce is their top concern. If you have a suspended driver's license for failure to pay you are prohibited to drive to work. We believe this will be an additional tool to help solve our workforce problems in Kansas. (Attachment 22)
Sheila Officer, Chair, Racial Profiling Advisory Board, provided testimony in support of the bill, however due to technical difficulties with Webex, her testimony was moved to Written-only. (Attachment 23)
Jason Watkins, on behalf of Sedgwick Board of County Commissioners, provided testimony in support of the bill. It was stated that in short, SB500 is a small but necessary step in reforming Kansas law as it relates to suspended and restricted drivers' licenses. (Attachment 24)
Written-only testimony in support of SB500 was submitted by:
- Faith Martin, Racial Profiling Citizens Advisory Board (Attachment 25)
- Walt Chappell, Former Vice-Chair Racial Profiling Advisory Board (Attachment 26)
- Greg Nickel, Part-time Municipal Judge, Full-time Court Administrator (Attachment 27)
Proponents stood for questions.
Noah Bein, Justice Action Network, provided neutral written-only testimony. (Attachment28)
Mike Fonkert Deputy Director, Kansas Appleseed, provided testimony in opposition to SB500. He stated instead of continuing to have debt-based suspended or restricted licenses, Kansas has the opportunity to join other states in eliminating debt-based driver's license suspensions. (Attachment 29)
No further conferees.
Chairwoman Warren closed hearing on SB500
