A Victory for PA Parking Operations: PTAP’s Legislative Efforts Gain Ground
The Parking & Transportation Association of Pennsylvania (PTAP) would like to take this opportunity to provide an update to our members and industry professionals across the state regarding the legislative efforts that PTAP has been engaged in for the benefit of our communities across the state of Pennsylvania. For the past two years, several PTAP board members have been working with many members of the Pennsylvania legislature on laws to assist the operation of parking organizations.
Some of these efforts have included:
Front and rear license plates to better aid ALPR technology.
License plate lookup capability for boroughs and bureaus and private operators.
The first step toward achieving our goals began on June 17 when Representative Manuel Guzman, of Reading, PA introduced House Bill 1545. In brief, the bill will allow Parking Authorities in cities of class 2, 2A and 3 the ability to suspend vehicle registration when a vehicle accumulates 6 or more unpaid tickets or owes more than $500 in accumulated ticket fines. The bill was introduced in committee and overwhelmingly passed with bipartisan support!
Many parking organizations are still trying to recover from many years of debt caused by the Covid pandemic. Should this bill pass and become law, it would give parking organizations some flexibility to encourage violators to take care of their obligations. This option also opens the door for parking authorities to consider opting out of the criminal function of parking for the civil approach. The ability to suspend registration grants expanded flexibility to encourage compliance and takes the threat of arrest warrants away from violators. This bill is still being evaluated in the House and will be scheduled for a vote in the near future.
As PTAP continues to work with our State Senators and Representatives to address some of the pressing issues that parking organizations face, we ask for your support with an organizational membership.
PTAP offers strength in numbers and has gained significant standing in Harrisburg. PTAP is asked to offer support and opinions on a number of bills that touch on parking and transportation. Many voices speaking in unison hold significance, and our efforts to this point reflect that.
We encourage you to continue to stay in touch with PTAP, our board members, and follow us on social media to receive further updates on the progress of this bill. Thank you to all of our members who support PTAP with your assistance and membership and conference attendance!
To join PTAP, please visit our Membership Renewal page.