Opponents of the amendment argue that suspending a license because someone failed to appear in court in such cases is merely a proxy for debt-based suspension. They want the House to undo the Senate's change or decline to pass the bill.
“This bill still punishes people who are not able to pay,” Priya Sarathy Jones, of the national Free to Drive Campaign, testified at a Washington House Transportation Committee hearing last week. “It just creates a different pathway to do it.”
The House Transportation Committee passed the bill 24-5 Friday, sending it to the House Rules Committee on its way to the floor.