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NEWSROOM * CIRCULATION * ADVERTISING
Friday
March 2010
12
Community Blogs
State Sen. Jim Sullivan represents the 5th Senate District, which includes Wauwatosa, West Allis, West Milwaukee, Elm Grove and parts of Milwaukee and Brookfield. Sen. Sullivan, a licensed attorney who graduated from Marquette University Law School, strives to be an effective, thoughtful, consensus-building representative of his constituents.
Go to Sen. Sullivan's website
Drunk Driving Reform Passes Senate and Assembly
The Senate and the Assembly passed Senate Bill 66 this week, the most comprehensive drunk driving reform package in state history. Representative Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis) and I collaborated in drafting this legislation and worked with legislative leaders in both houses to bring true drunk driving reform to Wisconsin.
Both houses have spent months deliberating on drunk driving—reform that has been years in the making. The debate in which we have engaged is a true testament to the democratic process, and to the dedication of victims’ families and advocates who have been calling for change, session after legislative session.
I think it is particularly poignant that we were able to pass this important legislation leading into the holiday season. Our history in this state is full of instances where somebody's joyous occasion and holidays have been turned into tragedy because of alcohol-related accidents. The timing could not be more appropriate.
Senate Bill 66 will make a fourth-offense OWI a felony if the driver has a previous OWI-related conviction within the previous five-year period. The bill also criminalizes first-offense OWI if a child is in the vehicle and expands statewide the successful Winnebago County Safe Streets Treatment Option Program. Among its other provisions, Senate Bill 66 will require the installation of Ignition Interlock Devices (IID) for all repeat offenders as well as first-time offenders with a BAC of .15 or higher. The bill also requires mandatory prison sentences for repeat drunk drivers.
Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunk driving in the nation. According to the Department of Transportation, alcohol-related crashes killed 234 people and injured more than 4,000 people in 2008. In response to this problem, the Assembly unanimously passed Assembly Bill 283 on September 17, 2009, and the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 66 on November 5, 2009. Due to minor differences between the bills passed by both houses, this week’s action was necessary to resolve the differences between these proposals.
Governor Doyle is expected to sign Senate Bill 66 into law later this month.
You are certainly latching onto many easy votes Senator and avoiding the ones that reveal who you really are, a tax and spend liberal. Why nothing on the increase in the restaurant tax that you failed to vote on?
Sully, just ignore these nay sayers and continue pumping out articles on drunk driving reform. Hey, if it's the best you could do, stay with it. Doesn't matter that no one else is impressed.
You could milk this puppy right through the next election!
Nobody seems to know why Senator Sullivan attached Substitute Amendment #2 (SA#2) to this DUI bill prior to handing it off to the State Assembly. Nobody in the inept local media seems to have picked up on this like I have. Senator Sullivan, why'd you do it? Did the Assembly remove SA#2 prior to passing it on to the Governor?
According to the Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau, "This substitute amendment eliminates the option of ordering the person’s vehicle to be immobilized or seized and sold at auction.".
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/SB66-SSA2.pdf
Looks to me like THE OPTION to confiscate the vehicle of a repeat drunk driver is officially off the table from now on thanks to Senator Sullivan's 'Substitute Amendment #2'. Am I wrong?
I'm a bit surprised at Senator Sullivan for putting this into his amendment after all the discussion about it on his own blogs right here. Maybe he doesn't read the comments. Anything's possible. Nobody advocated for PREVENTING confiscation on his blog. A few, like me, have advocated FOR confiscation. I don't get it.
Senator Sullivan, please educate us dumb voters on why you did what you did with respect to SA#2. The floor is yours, Senator...
Felony on 4th offense? That's harsh.
For the record, I'm not a big fan of Senator Sullivan.
Jim, this isn't much to brag about. How about saying this is the best we could do in a pathetic Legislature.
Might get you some points and I suspect they wouldn;t hurt you down the road. You really that scared of Russ?
I'm just saying....
Well, I agree that it is disappointing that this weak law is apparently the best they could do with a democratic majority. Of course it is important to consider whether or not it is better than nothing, since nothing was the best the republican majority could manage. Even if a loved one has never been injured or killed by a drunk driver, it is at the least a continuing embarrassment that WI has the highest rate of drunk driving in the nation. Do we still have the weakest drunk-driving laws? Probably yes.
(And I think that a verification/refutation of SOM's concern is in order here.)
Honestly, I am sick to death of these posts by Mr. Sullivan. He posts, never answers our concerns and then moves on.
If you don't plan on addressing anyone, please refrain from future posts.
You aren't getting any votes from here except from your alter-ego known as Santas Elf....
Until you pass a law which makes a 1st offense a felony, we wil continue to see deaths due to drinking and driving. Great job!!!! Kudos for doing absolutely nothing!!!!
Hey! Listen Laurie90210, until you have followed me into the voting booth, don't claim to know how I would vote! If it weren't for me, no one would be rockin the boat here abouts. This guy ain't the real goods and we both know it. But you wait till almost Christmas Eve to post one pimple a.. comment in the hope that no one will notice it, then wander off to open your gift check from the Democrats, hoping we won't catch on. Sorry sweetie, it don't work that way!
Hey Santa,
I do apologize, thought you were in support of this clown..
Merry Christmas!!
Hey Santa,
Don't forget about StubbornOldMan, your boat-rocking shipmate! I'd like to think that I had a bit more to do with rocking the boat and asking questions (so far, unanswered) of Senator Sullivan. I mean, if it weren't for me, would you have known about Senator Sullivan's Substitute Amendment #2 I reference above? The newspaper said nothing about it. Talk radio said nothing about it. The TV news said nothing about it. Worse yet, Senator Sullivan HIMSELF said nothing about it.
You don't suppose he's afraid to defend his actions as our Senator, do you? Nah, that couldn't be it. Could it?
Yea we're all great!
I'll be opening my jug just as soon as Santa takes off with the loot on his big night of the year. So while I'm still sober enough to do so, allow me to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas!
Hey, where did my elfette wander off to?....she's got the cutest nickers!....
I saw this imposter running off with your little elfish nymphette. Santa's one bad dude (when he's drunk).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307987/
Merry Christmas Senator Sullivan,
I still don't know your rationale for putting that little clause into YOUR Substitute Amendment #2 which will absolutely prohibit judges from confiscating vehicles of any DUI defendant that appears in his/her courtroom. If you're going to tell me that this sanction was rarely used by judges, then I wonder why you're not applying exactly the same logic to abolishing all speed limits?
It seems reasonable to assume that a cop will rarely pull somebody over for driving 56 mph in a 55 mph zone, right? It would be rare, right? I'm sure there's something I don't understand about your reasons for introducing SA #2. Please educate me and the rest of us dumb voters here on this blog as to the REAL reason why you did what you did with respect to SA #2.
Why do you presumably think that my speeding analogy is totally invalid with respect to how/why you introduced SA #2 to the new 'tough' DUI bill is the subject of this and previous blogs of yours?
- Senate Votes Unanimously to Make Health Care Prices More Transparent
- BadgerCare Basic Vote
- Legislative Update
- Wauwatosa Students Earn a Unanimous Vote + Legislative Update
- IRA Reform Passes Senate Unanimously
- Scofflaw Signage Littering the Roadway
- Legislative Update on IRAs, Fairness for Victims Act
- Senate Passes CORE Jobs Act
- Addressing Ticket Resales at Miller Park
- New Year, New Developments for Wisconsin
Tags: Sullivan : Drunk Driving : IID : OWI : Felony : Victims : Repeat Offenders
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