Lawmaker wants Pa. Attorney General’s office to charge for debt collection

A proposal aims to kick some money over to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office for any debts it collects on behalf of the commonwealth.

Democratic state Sen. Tim Solobay says he wants the state’s top law enforcement office — and ultimate collector of state debt — to be able to charge for its efforts to go after debtors.

“A lot of the different agencies of the state, when they have trouble collecting fines or things that they end up having to turn over to the attorney general’s office for collection, basically the cost of doing that is taxpayer funded,” Solobay said Tuesday.

What’s more, Solobay said, the proposal would remedy an unfair situation.

The attorney general can contract with private debt collection companies that can charge debtors, but the office itself can’t levy any kind of fee on debtors for collection efforts.

The proposal is modeled on a House bill introduced last session as well.