$24 million settlement reached over disabled parking permits

[sonias]

AAS 12/02/09
$24 million settlement reached over disabled parking permits
State settles class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Transportation.

The State of Texas will pay $24 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Transportation more than a dozen years ago claiming that the $5 fee the state charged for disabled parking placards violated federal law. The settlement represents one of the largest — if not the largest — single checks the state has written to settle a legal claim, according to the comptroller's office.

Although the settlement deal won't be finalized until U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks signs off on it, probably early next year, a spokesman for the Transportation Department said the money to cover the debt was officially set aside in November.

According to the agreement, Texas will fund a $19.2 million pool to cover refunds to drivers with disabilities who purchased the light blue parking placards — typically hung from rearview mirrors — from 1997, when the lawsuit was brought, through 2008, when a judge ordered the state to stop collecting the fee.

The state will pay another $1 million to administer the refunds and $3.9 million to the lawyers who brought the case.

"We are happy to be able to reach this agreement on behalf of disabled Texans," said J. Hampton Skelton, the Austin attorney who has pushed the case for 12 years.

The state gets forced to do the right thing once again. Remember G. W. was Governor in 1997 when the fee went into effect. Another mean spirited Republican initiate to take money from a group of people they don't like.

Plus they just use fees as a way to conceal raising taxes. Call it a fee and lie that you don't raise taxes in Texas. Simply shift the burden of operating state government. They've done the same with property taxes and financing the public school system in Texas. Local property taxes are now a huge chunk of financing the public school system in Texas. That way the Rs can claim they're keeping state government small.

The excuse Texas used to try wiggling out of paying the lawsuit - Texas asserted that they were immune from lawsuits. :eyes:


Sonia

[Aragorn]

1. ha ha

filled out a lot of paperwork for these over the past many years. Texas is NOT immune from a ll lawsuits? Who'da thought?

[sonias]

2. Sad thing is that those refunds are going to be very hard to get

Most counties didn't keep good records. Some don't even have them for more than 2 years. How in the heck do counties like Williamson get away with disposing records that recent? You would think at the very least they would have scanned in the records before destroying them.

The bulk of the money can go to the agencies that help people with disabilities and I think that's the benefit most of these people will get from the lawsuit.

A 5 dollar a year fee for however many years they paid is really going to be a lot of trouble for some of them to document.

Sonia