New York state lawmakers and advocates are renewing their effort to pass legislation designed to eliminate court fees that people convicted of a crime have been forced to pay. State Assemblyman Kenny Burgos, a Bronx Democrat who sponsors the legislation in his chamber, argues the court fees amount to a “regressive tax.”

Burgos told Capital Tonight that the fees, which amounted to roughly $40 million a year, are used to fund parts of the state government. However, Burgos and advocates argue more is spent to reclaim court fees than the state gets back.

The fees are mandated and are not up to a judge’s discretion like fines may be. The state has already removed court fees in juvenile and parole cases. But the fees remain for adult cases from traffic to criminal cases.

When someone is sent to prison and still owes court fees, their wages in prison labor or commissary funds can be garnished. Prison wages are much lower than the traditional minimum wage with incarcerated people earning cents on the dollar.

Burgos says he is “confident” that the bill will pass this session arguing “it just should not be a crime in New York to be poor.”

Democrats hold supermajorities in both legislative chambers, however, the ranking member of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime, and Corrections Committee, Sen. Patrick Gallivan, is not a supporter of the legislation. In a statement provided to Capital Tonight, Sen. Gallivan said “the elimination of some fees and surcharges may be warranted, however court fines are often used to support important programs such as the DNA databank, the sex offender registry and parole supervision. If these fines are eliminated, law-aiding citizens and taxpayers will pay more, which I do believe is not appropriate.”