Ohio’s economy has a lot going for it, but there are weak spots. Among those problem areas is the number of people with suspended drivers’ licenses. We’re not talking here about those whose licenses have been suspended for driving-related failures. These are suspensions because of legal debts such as unpaid fines and fees, child-support delinquencies or court judgments.

According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, approximately 1.7 million Ohioans per year have their licenses suspended, and 60% of those are not because of bad driving. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland suggests that adds up to 14% of the state’s labor force.

“Our analysis suggests that these suspensions, especially when combined with increasing driver’s license requirements, make finding and maintaining employment more difficult for a sizable portion of Ohioans, but that instability also affects the broader economy,” reads the Fed report. “Fewer people in the labor force means fewer people to hire and fewer people to produce and consume goods and services.”

Further, these kinds of suspensions fall disproportionately on poor communities and communities of color. Because, of course, if you can afford to pay you aren’t in the mess in the first place. License suspension affects more than the economy, it affects voting now that stricter ID laws have been passed.

“Employer driver’s license requirements tend to be highest in middle and lower-wage occupations, indicating the importance of a driver’s license to this segment of the workforce while highlighting how a lack of driver’s license can be a barrier to economic mobility for those most at risk of receiving a (debt-related) suspension,” the report said.

The harder it is to work, the harder it is to pay off the debt, and the cycle worsens. Some of those affected could move to another state. Some could simply give up.

It seems like a lose, lose, lose, lose situation for individuals, their families, their communities and the state. But what is the solution? There must be some means of ensuring what is truly owed gets repaid. When stakeholders come forward with those ideas, state lawmakers must be ready to listen and perhaps change a system that is dragging down everyone.