(The Center Square) – A pending California bill already passed by the State Assembly to “end poverty tows” and heading to the State Senate would limit the ability to tow or place an immobilizer on parked vehicles with five or more outstanding parking violations to agents of higher education institutions.
The bill, AB 1082, would also require new processes to waive unpaid parking penalties if a vehicle’s owner was in custody in a juvenile facility, county jail, or state prison when the penalty was pending, and prohibit the California Department of Motor Vehicles from refusing to renew a vehicle’s registration for unpaid parking violations unless the registered owner has 3 or more parking violations.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San José), who authored and introduced the bill, said, “California has been a national leader in ending policies that disproportionately punish people experiencing poverty, recognizing that these laws do not make individuals more likely to pay but instead trap them in debt. Poverty tows result in snowballing consequences that threaten people’s stability and undermine our state’s equity goals. I am thankful AB 1082 is moving forward and bringing us closer to ending this unreasonably harsh punishment for parking tickets.”
While the bill has faced little opposition from legislators, one group, the California Mobility and Parking Association (CMPA) has emerged to call upon legislators to reject the measure.
In an opposition letter the CMPA has urged its members and the public to sign, they note, “This bill would eliminate a municipality’s authority to boot or tow a vehicle for overdue parking infractions thereby removing all actionable deterrence to illegal parking by owners of vehicles with out-of-state plates (since they don’t pay registration at the California DMV).”
Because only agents of higher education institutions–not municipal traffic enforcement or peace officers–would have the power to immobilize or tow vehicles, the CMPA suggests the measure would also significantly reduce municipal revenues, resulting in the need for either reduced services or raising income from alternative revenue sources.
