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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Bill
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State Rep. Eugene DePasquale |
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DePasquale introduces legislation to help crack down on unpaid parking tickets
HARRISBURG, June 6 – State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, has introduced legislation that would help municipalities that are having difficulty collecting parking fines and fees from residents who habitually ignore parking citations and fail pay their parking tickets.
DePasquale said last session, the General Assembly passed a law that enables the city of Philadelphia to enforce parking tickets by allowing the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to suspend vehicle registration plates for Philadelphians who have six or more unpaid parking tickets. He said he believes that in the spirit of fairness to all cities throughout the Commonwealth that are facing similar problems with parking scofflaws, the law should be expanded to Pittsburgh and third-class cities such as York.
“There are many people in Pennsylvania who habitually and knowingly ignore parking tickets because the consequences are minor,” DePasquale said. “Cities throughout the Commonwealth, not just Philadelphia, are finding it difficult to enforce parking citations and I think its only right to expand this law statewide.”
DePasquale added that suspending the registration on a vehicle would force the owner to return the license plate to PennDOT. To avoid returning the plate, a driver could go to the appropriate district magistrate, pay his or her fines and other costs and get a certificate validating that the citations have been paid.
“My bill would target the person who purposely and continuously violates parking laws and decides not to pay his or her outstanding parking tickets, not the average citizen who occasionally forgets to pay a ticket,” he said.
DePasquale is chairman of the House Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Third-Class Cities and Counties. The subcommittee deals with legislation and issues relevant to counties that have populations less then 500,000 and cities with populations less then 250,000.
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