Highlights from the Legislature on Thursday.
— The Senate Education Committee approved a bill (Senate Bill 98) that would recognize the importance of English language competence for a person to be a safe, productive, participating member of society and adopt English language competency as a high school graduation requirement. The bill now goes to the full Senate for debate.
— The Senate Transportation Committee approved a bill raising the threshold for boaters to be charged with driving under the influence. The measure (Senate Bill 159) would lower the minimum blood alcohol limit for DUIs from 0.10 to 0.08 and cover all vessels, not just motorboats and sailboats. The bill now goes to the full Senate for discussion.
— The Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources & Energy Committee approved a plan to allow homeowners to collect water that drains off up roofs up to 3,000 square feet so ranchers and farmers could use it to water livestock and metro area residents could use it to water their lawns and gardens. The measure (Senate Bill 119) passed unanimously and goes to the Senate for debate.
