| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Neutral | Neutral | Positive | Neutral | Positive |
HB 3609 amends Transportation Code regarding certain civil penalties imposed by the Department of Public Safety.
Current law states that an individual seeking to renew a drivers license may be denied by the department based on certain convictions and traffic accidents in which the individual has been involved. If a driver’s license has been suspended, a license may be reinstated after the term of the penalty and a department fee has been paid.
The bill would remove the ability of the department to deny renewal of a license based on a previous conviction if the conviction happened over a year before the license renewal was received.
However, the bill does authorize the department to consider a record of conviction in renewal of a license if the individual was a commercial driver’s license holder, was operating a commercial vehicle, or was transporting hazardous material at the time of the offense.
This bill would create certain protections for individuals by limiting the government’s ability to withhold a drivers license due to certain criminal convictions. The efforts of this legislation to provide greater protections to private citizens would promote our liberty principles of individual liberty and personal responsibility. For these reasons, we support HB 3609.