Apr 26, 2019 2 min read

A positive change in Pennsylvania law is now in effect. The state has ended the practice of suspending people’s driver’s licenses when they are convicted of certain nondriving offenses, including drug violations.

The legislation, signed by Gov. Tom Wolf and effective Monday, will mean about 20,000 fewer automatic license suspensions annually.

Said Wolf, “We need to break down even more unnecessary and especially difficult roadblocks to success and stability. Having a valid driver’s license often is the key to finding and keeping a job, especially in parts of Pennsylvania where public transportation isn’t readily accessible.

“We must ensure penalties promote rehabilitation, instead of the opposite. We need to make this our goal when it comes to probation and parole, and bail policies. If our policies make a second chance harder, especially in a way that is disproportional by economic status, they need to change.”

Pennsylvania’s former law that was amended by the new Act 95 came amid the “war on drugs” in the early 1990s, and Congress threatened financial punishment against states that didn’t suspend the licenses of people convicted of drug crimes.

Over the past 20 years, states have been using a provision to opt out of the suspensions, and with Pennsylvania’s action, there are just nine that still have the provisions. It is our hope that they will take similar action to help, rather than hinder, those who are trying to get their lives back on track.