Illinois governor to reinstate suspended licenses from non-moving violations

QUINCY, IL — Illinois Governor JB Pritzker recently signed the License to Work Act.

The act eliminates driver license suspensions for most non-moving violations for Illinoisans whose license were cancelled, suspended or revoked, to have their driving privileges reinstated.

Each year, more than 50,000 Illinois licenses are suspended because drivers cannot afford to pay tickets, fines and fees.

With this bipartisan legislation, Illinois now recognizes the fact that suspending licenses for having too many unpaid tickets, fines, and fees doesn’t necessarily make a person pay the bill — but it does mean that people don’t have a way to pay,” said Governor JB Pritzker, who also has called for reform for the past several years. “We, as a state, have a vested interest in making sure all our residents who need their licenses to apply to a job or an apprenticeship program, or who already use their licenses to drive to work, to the grocery store, or to the doctor, don’t lose those opportunities because of a practice that reinforces cycles of instability.”

The new law goes into effect July 2020.