Wisconsin OWI DUI

The Legislature overwhelmingly approved a bill Wednesday that would toughen the state’s drunken driving laws by making fourth offenses felonies and requiring more offenders to install ignition interlocks on their vehicles.

The measure would make the most significant changes to the state’s drunken driving laws since 2003, when the blood-alcohol limit for drivers dropped from 0.10 to 0.08.

Under the threat that the federal government would cut highway money, the Legislature that year lowered the blood-alcohol limit but set lower penalties for offenders with levels between 0.08 and 0.099.

The bill passed Wednesday would wipe out that aspect of the law and make all first-time offenders face the same punishment.

The Senate adopted the measure 33-0 and the Assembly 93-1, with Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) dissenting. Gov. Jim Doyle promised to sign the bill.

The new law would cost up to $82 million a year – triple earlier estimates and far more than new fees included in the bill would cover.

“It’s a tough and smart new way of fighting drunken driving in our state,” said Rep. Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis), an author of the bill.

Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa), another author, said adopting the bill just before Christmas and New Year’s Day was important.

“Our history in this state is replete with instances where somebody’s joyous occasion and holidays have been turned into tragedy because of alcohol-related accidents,” Sullivan said. “The timing is appropriate, I think, for us to get this done today.”

Lawmakers began pushing for changes after the Journal Sentinel’s “Wasted in Wisconsin” series in 2008 and other media accounts that explored the state’s drinking culture and examined Wisconsin’s comparatively lax drunken driving laws.

Schneider said he voted against the bill because previous limits going back three decades have done little to curb drunken driving. The bill will exacerbate overcrowding in jails, he added.

“You may think this will be some wonderful thing, some wonderful bill that will solve the drinking problem,” Schneider said. “This bill isn’t going to solve the problem.”

The legislation would:

â€¢ Require ignition interlocks for all repeat drunken drivers and for first-time offenders with blood-alcohol levels of 0.15 or greater. That’s nearly twice the legal limit. Ignition interlocks prevent motorists from starting their vehicle until they blow into a tube to show they don’t have alcohol in their systems.

â€¢ Make a fourth drunken driving offense a felony if it occurs within five years of a previous offense. Drunken driving isn’t a felony until the fifth offense in Wisconsin.

â€¢ Make first-offense drunken driving a misdemeanor if a child younger than 16 is in the vehicle. All other first-time offenses would remain traffic offenses, rather than crimes. Wisconsin is the only state to treat first offenses that way.

â€¢ Expand to the rest of the state a Winnebago County program that gives judges the option of offering reduced jail time to offenders who complete alcohol or drug treatment. County boards would have to approve the program – which backers say would reduce recidivism – for it to be used in their areas.
A starting point

“It’s an important first step, but much more needs to be done,” said Lisa Maroney, a spokeswoman for All-Wisconsin Alcohol Risk Education, a coalition of health, medical, law enforcement and insurance groups.

The group has called for legalizing sobriety checkpoints and making a first offense a misdemeanor instead of a traffic citation.

The bill adopted Wednesday would help put “an end to the 100 percent preventable violent crime of drunk driving,” said a statement from Frank Harris of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Both houses, controlled by Democrats, advanced much of the legislation in the fall, but they didn’t work out minor differences on how to fund the tougher measures when they last met in November. Rather than waiting to pass a final package when they reconvene in regular session in January, they called themselves into extraordinary session.

All offenders will see a criminal surcharge rise from $20 to $163. People who have their licenses revoked for drunken driving will also have to pay more to get their licenses reinstated – $200 instead of $60.

Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) said fewer offenders would be able to afford to pay the increased fees.

“A lot of that is going to be unpaid for, and it’s just going to be sitting out there,” he said.

The new fees will raise $12.2 million a year, covering just a fraction of the bill’s costs.

Lawmakers steered clear of raising taxes on beer, wine or liquor. Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison) – a longtime backer of raising the beer tax – said lawmakers “don’t have the backbone” to fully fund the bill.

Earlier estimates said the measure would cost $15.1 million to $27.9 million a year, but the morning before the vote, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau warned lawmakers state costs would be $47.4 million to $82 million a year.

The new costs are for increased incarceration in state prisons, probation and treatment. The expenses do not include the costs of housing more inmates in jails, which counties pay for with property taxes.

An earlier fiscal analysis from the Department of Corrections overestimated how much the increased use of ignition interlocks would affect recidivism. The fiscal bureau said the devices would curb recidivism by 7%, not the 65% estimated by the Corrections Department.

Among those voting for the bill was Rep. Jeff Wood (I-Chippewa Falls), who has twice been convicted of drunken driving and faces three pending charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. An Assembly ethics committee is considering whether to expel him from the Legislature.

Wood declined to comment but said in a statement he supported the bill because it expands treatment. He said he recently enrolled in a treatment program.

“It gave me a second chance at a life of sobriety,” his statement said. “Unfortunately, for most people, obtaining the treatment they require is out of reach due to financial constraints. I hope Wisconsin continues to look at helping people treat the disease instead of addressing the punishment alone.”

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Posted in Wisconsin OWI DUI Articles

Legislature passes tougher DUI laws; Doyle to sign measure

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