The Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC): NEW YORK – Today, Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) released The Cost We No Longer Pay, a report  detailing the overwhelming amount of financial relief that has been brought back to families and communities through the work of FFJC and its partners, resulting in more than 70 separate pieces of legislation reforming fine and fee policies since 2018.

Based on our research, we conservatively estimate at least $37.5 billion delivered in financial relief – money that people can now spend to support themselves, their families and contribute to their communities. For context, $37.5 billion alone is enough to pay for a full year of groceries for roughly 3.1 million families—enough to feed every household in Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Antonio, Charlotte and Jacksonville, Florida combined.  

The 71-page report comes after more than two years of extensive, meticulous research and data collection designed to quantify, for the first time, what fine and fee reform really means for people. It demonstrates what can be done when a broad coalition of advocates and bipartisan legislators work together to create fines and fees reform – not just to help families and communities, but to create better economic policy for state governments.  

“Our first priority in measuring the impact of our work is to study how it has changed the lives of families facing fines and fees,” said Joanna Weiss, FFJC’s co-founder and co-executive director. “Families can use these savings toward heating their homes, paying their rent and putting food on the table. But make no mistake, the savings created by fines and fees reform reverberate into the broader economy, creating safer, more resilient communities, and smarter, sustainable policy.”

Read the full article on The Cost We No Longer Pay shows how families and communities across the country have significantly benefited from fines and fee reform since 2018