Uruguay
Government lawmakers block other fines-related bills until Senate advances reform
Coalition lawmakers question the delay of a bill already approved in the Chamber of Representatives and warn they will not support other related measures while the upper house remains undecided.
Lawmakers from the governing coalition decided to block consideration of other traffic fines bills while the Senate does not advance the initiative that has already been approved in the Chamber of Representatives to reduce some penalties on national roads and introduce a progressive discount system.
According to El País, the original text was drafted by Sebastián Andújar, Conrado Rodríguez and Álvaro Perrone, and had been approved in April with support from all parties except one absence. Now, its sponsors believe the bill has been delayed in the upper house, despite the fact that, according to Rodríguez, there had been an agreement that also involved the Ministry of Transport and Public Works.
Andújar told El País that they have begun conditioning their votes on bills linked to the same issue and that initiatives on educational speed cameras and the statute of limitations for fines will not be considered until there is movement in the Senate.
The debate reopened in July, when proposals for changes emerged from the Broad Front and also from the National Party. According to El País, Rodrigo Blás promoted adding benefits for people with accumulated debt from fines, a point that was not included in the text approved by the Chamber of Representatives. The National Party senator told that outlet that the bill will be amended and attributed the delay to the Senate’s receipt of the Competitiveness and Cost of Living Reduction and Accountability bills.
In the same vein, Aníbal Pereyra told El País that the bill will not pass as it arrived from the Chamber of Representatives. He also noted that the Congress of Mayors, which had taken part in the earlier discussion and was again summoned by the Transport Committee, raised objections to the wording. He also recalled criticisms voiced by National Party senators.
The Senate committee expects to hear from mayors, the MTOP and Unasev starting in October to continue analyzing possible changes.
Meanwhile, in the Transport Committee of the Chamber of Representatives there are two initiatives that will be postponed because of this political decision. One proposes extending until December 31 the deadline to install educational speed cameras alongside enforcement devices on national roads. The previous deadline expired on June 30 and, according to El País, the MTOP announced that in places where they have not yet been installed, fines are not being enforced.
The other initiative, submitted by the Executive Branch at the urging of Unasev, seeks to extend the statute of limitations for traffic fines from five to 10 years. That bill has already been approved in committee and will soon go to the Chamber of Representatives floor. According to El País, Marcelo Metediera had argued that the current deadline could interfere with a future points-based driver’s license, scheduled to begin next year.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this fact.
