Driver Responsibility Fees Gone

secretaryofstatelogo-26
secretaryofstatelogo-26

Expect longer waits at the Secretary of State branch offices in Benton Harbor, Niles, and Dowagiac over the next few days. That’s because the unpopular driver responsibility fees are now off the books, and people who have had their driver’s licenses suspended for them can now get those reinstated without having to pay the standard $125 fee. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson says if there are other issues, however, those still need to be taken care of. An estimated 300,000 Michigan residents were eligible to get their licenses reinstated with the elimination of the fees, which had been in place since 2003. They were enacted to help address a budget shortfall, but that backfired because many who were charged the fees were the least able to actually pay them. The combined fees that were still owed and are being wiped off the books was $637 million as of August 2017.