• ETI Driver's License Research
  
• Voter Photo ID Analysis

One of the most important issues facing innercity Milwaukee residents is access to jobs -- jobs that are increasingly beyond the Milwaukee County bus lines. The policies in Milwaukee leading to thousands of driver's license suspensions as punishments for not paying fines were the subject of a community discussion convened on June 11, 2007 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board. The discussion included Tyrone Dumas of the Milwaukee Public Schools; James Gramling, former Milwaukee municipal judge; Herman John of the Milwaukee Bar Association; and John Pawasarat, director of the Employment and Training Institute. Following this session, the editorial board launched an occasional series on "No License: A Roadblock to Work" and issued recommendations for improving the current situation where thousands of Milwaukee County workers have suspended or revoked licenses.

The editorial board recommended the following. (See the January 19, 2008 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial for the rationale for each recommendation.)

1. The state (Governor Jim Doyle and the Wisconsin Legislature) should "opt out of a federal law that requires at least a six-month suspension of driver's licenses for all drug offenses."

2. The state should "require the courts to grant indigent or low-income defendents reasonable installment payment plans in lieu of the automatic suspension of their licenses."

3. The state should allow state courts to "sentence indigent defendents to community service in non-criminal traffic offenses."

4. The state should "encourage courts to collect overdue fines through holds on income tax refunds."

5. The state should "reinstate universal driver's education in the public schools."

6. The state should "bar courts from charging fees to reopen driver's licenses."

7. The state should "step up funding for agencies . . . such as the Center for Driver's License Recovery and Employability."

8. "Agencies involved in boosting employment [ie., the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board and the W-2 agencies] should milk driver's license data to identify participants who need help in getting valid licenses."

9. "The state Department of Workforce Development should require that Wisconsin Works agencies aggressively seek to help their clients repair any driver's license problems."

10. "The Department of Corrections should help its population to obtain valid driver's liceness upon release."

11. Local governments should "forbid the use of driver's license suspension for non-payment of fines."

12. The Milwaukee Common Council should end the "practice of requiring residents to pay for the privilege of parking in front of their homes."

13. "Employers should require a license only if it's related to the job."

Full copies of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorials are available online, along with a streaming video discussion of the issues, at the following websites:

• "Editorial: Unfair suspensions leave workers idling. Revoking or suspending driver's licenses in Wisconsin has made it all that much harder for low-income residents to obtain and retain employment" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 19, 2008. An accompanying article by Gregory Stanford traced the experience of three Milwaukee residents in restoring their driving privileges with assistance from the Center for Driver's License Recovery & Employability.

• "Editorial: Stranded in Milwaukee. City officials are right to push for more jobs in the central city, but why do they make thousands of residents less employable by taking away their driver's licenses?" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 27, 2007.

• "Editorial: The poor take a big hit if a license becomes a club. Officials should scotch laws that take away driving rights for non-driving offenses. The lack of a license amounts to a big competitive disadvantage in a metro area built for the automobile" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 17, 2007.

• A perspective paper outlining the importance of the driver's license as a link to employment by John Pawasarat.

• The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board discussion session in streaming video.

The Center for Driver's License Recovery and Employability was established by the Milwaukee Bar Association and others to increase the number of licensed driver's among Milwaukee County's low income population. The Center is located in the downtown Milwaukee Area Technical College.

The following Employment and Training Institute studies analyze driver's license issues:

• Assessment of 2007 Client Outcomes for the Center for Driver's License Recovery & Employability (2008) reviewed the first year of operation and found a high 51% success rate in clients obtaining license privileges. All clients were low-income, and 96% faced financial fines or court costs. The largest group served were African American males.

• The EARN (Early Assessment and Retention Network) Model for Effectively Targeting WIA and TANF Resources to Participants (2007) recommends a data-driven service delivery system for Milwaukee with early detection of barriers to employment prior to delivery of services and for targeting post-exit services to those identified as high-risk. Post-program wage data on WIA participants with less than 12 years of education showed that those with a valid driver's license were four times more likely to show earnings above the poverty level, compared to those without a current license.

• The Driver License Status of the Voting Age Population in Wisconsin, (2005) provides a first-time analysis of the driver's license issues based on the race and ethnicity of drivers and unlicensed adults in Wisconsin. Less than half (47%) of Milwaukee County African American adults and 43% of Hispanics adults have a valid driver's license compared to 85% of white adults in the balance of Wisconsin outside of Milwaukee County. For young adults ages 18-24, only 26% of African Americans and 34% of Hispanics in Milwaukee County have a valid driver's license, compared to 71% of young white adults in the Balance of the State.

• Barriers to Employment: Prison Time (2007) found that only 7% of Milwaukee County residents released from state correctional facilities showed evidence of a valid driver's license with no recent suspensions or revocations. The study recommends that the City of Milwaukee and the Department of Corrections cooperate to help address driver's license problems prior to release.

• Removing Transportation Barriers to Employment: The Impact of Driver's License Suspension Policies on Milwaukee County Teens (2000), showed 9,046 Milwaukee County teens (ages 16-18) with suspended licenses, with 87% of the suspensions solely for failure to pay fines.

• Removing Transportation Barriers to Employment: Assessing Driver's License and Vehicle Ownership Patterns of Low-Income Populations (1998), showed 116,857 Milwaukee County adults (ages 18-55) with suspension orders. More suspension orders were issued for failure to pay municipal fines than for driving while intoxicated, traffic-related violations, and drug convictions combined.