<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1596812571786.jpeg" alt="Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt endorsed federal reform to make it easier for people to secure a driver's license. Similar legislation proposed in Kansas has failed to advance. (Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt endorsed federal reform to make it easier for people to secure a driver's license. Similar legislation proposed in Kansas has failed to advance. (Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-attorney-general-asks-feds-to-ease-drivers-license-reinstatment/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas 
attorney general is part of a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys 
general requesting Congress offer financial incentives for states to 
reform laws that stand as obstacles to low-income people reinstating 
their driving privileges.Attorney General Derek 
Schmidt, a Republican, signed onto a letter to the U.S. Senate 
requesting adoption of legislation that extended federal funding to 
states that repealed unreasonable license suspension laws. Forty percent
 of U.S. driver’s license suspensions are issued for conduct other than 
improper driving.Nearly two-dozen state 
prosecutors, including those of Colorado and Iowa, argued for federal 
action to reward states that did away with laws leading to suspension of
 licenses for failure to pay unrelated fines and fees.“Without a license or 
access to a strong system of public transportation, these individuals 
lack the means to get to their jobs, bring children to child car. And to
 get groceries, medical care and other necessities in the most 
cost-effective way,” the attorneys general said. “They end up in the 
loop of higher expenses and lower income, and potentially steeper 
fines.”In the 2020 legislative 
session, a bill mirroring the federal reform sought by the attorneys 
general was introduced in the Kansas House but didn’t advance.The Kansas Criminal 
Justice Reform Commission recommended legislation in 2019 to ease 
re-entry of inmates into their communities by making reinstatement of a 
license more practical.Law enforcement officers 
devote valuable time to processing suspension orders, transporting a 
driver to jail and waiting for tow trucks when there was no reasonable 
suspicion the driver posed a threat to motorist. Loss of a license adds 
obstacles to going to work and completing basic household functions.Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.

Kan. attorney general asks feds to ease driver’s license reinstatment