Assembly legislators passed two bills Tuesday to strengthen penalties for those charged with Operating While Intoxicated.
One of the bills, which passed by a voice vote and is now in the Senate, would require those charged to appear in court. Current law allows those charged to appear in court if they would like to plead not guilty but does not require their appearance.
The second bill, which passed 88-7, would increase fines and potential days in jail for both first and second OWI offenses. Current law requires a first-time offender pay between $150 and $300, which the bill would increase to $350 to $1,100 for those with a blood alcohol content of .15 or above.
The bill would also require second-time offenders to pay between $500 and $1500, an increase from current law, which requires a $350 to $1,100 fine.
The seven legislators voting against the bill included Rep. Mary Czaja, R-Irma; Rep. Daniel Knodl, R-Germantown; Rep. Rob Swearingen, R-Rhinelander; Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison; Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha; Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee; and Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink, D-Milladore, none of whom testified.
Several workforce development bills also passed Tuesday, including bills that would increase funding for merit-based scholarships for technical college students and create tuition-reimbursement programs for students in apprenticeships.
The bill would require the state to pay for half the cost of the scholarship and for the technical colleges to pay the second half.
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, put forth an amendment to the bill that would require the state to pay full tuition, which was tabled.
“We should make sure this scholarship program is fully funded and not require our tech school system to have to raise tuition on students,” Taylor said.
Taylor was one of three legislators to vote against the bill after her amendment was rejected.
Rep. Scott Krug, R-Nekoosa, said many organizations are registered in favor of the bill, including the Department of Workforce Development, the Department of Public Instruction and the Tech College System of Wisconsin.
Having a scholarship program like this would “create a pipeline” for skilled workers to go into the workforce, which would draw more businesses to Wisconsin, Krug said.
“It’s not the end game, but something to take us in the right step,” Krug said.
