(MADISON) – Today, Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), in response to the unintended financial consequences of COVID-19, is calling on the City of Milwaukee to suspend non-essential towing and debt collection. Mirroring measures being instituted around the nation, Milwaukee should join cities looking to financially minimize harm to residents during this public health crisis. In response, Taylor released the following statement:
“In neighboring Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced that debt collection and citations for things like parking violations have been temporarily suspended. Obviously, we don’t want traffic and street access impeded, but we can make common sense decisions about if and when a ticket should be issued.
As businesses close and residents are increasingly staying home, we know that for some, lack of money will be factor. Additionally, we have the ability to suspend towing of vehicles with 3 or more citations until we get a grasp on the financial fallout from COVID-19.
We know that many residents will be parking their cars all day due to telework situations, layoffs or business closing. Some neighborhoods have 2-hour parking during the day. We can suspend enforcement of those rules. Similar to Chicago, we could delay assessment of penalty (ticket doubling) and adopt other measures that could reduce the financial hardship of city residents during this period.”
