Committee deadlocks on bill to stop OMV debt referrals to Office of Debt Recovery

Representative Baham introduced HB 762 to prohibit the Office of Motor Vehicles from referring certain insurance-lapse debts to the Office of Debt Recovery (ODR), which currently adds a 15% collection fee when it collects. Supporters described the proposal as a way to avoid piling collection fees onto low-income people; critics and OMV staff said the move would have fiscal consequences and limit the agency’s ability to collect debts.

OMV staff explained the office sends debts to ODR when other collection efforts fail and noted that prior temporary suspensions of referrals had been used administratively; the agency said it would be a significant fiscal change to remove that tool. Witnesses and advocates, including Peter Robbins Brown of Louisiana Progress Action, argued that state collection practices often worsen financial hardship for people already struggling.

Committee members queried the number of notices and steps OMV takes before referral, existing statutory caps and exceptions (including special treatment for seniors), and whether existing waivers or review processes could address hardship cases without eliminating referrals entirely. OMV staff described an internal process for waiving or pulling debts back from ODR in hardship cases but said the statutory referral pathway remains an important collection tool.

After debate the committee held a roll call; the vote resulted in a tie and the bill remained in committee.