An officer performs a field sobriety test. (The Denver Post file| Andy Cross)
A years-long push at the statehouse to make repeated drunk driving a felony charge moved a step closer to final approval after receiving support from a state Senate panel Tuesday.
The felony DUI bill — since at least 2010 — is advancing with bipartisan support and the backing of Gov. John Hickenlooper, who made it one of his administration’s top priorities this session.
“This is a serious problem and take lives nearly every day on the highways and roadways in Colorado,” said Dave Hall, a lobbyist for the Colorado State Patrol, testifying on behalf of the Hickenlooper administration.
The , which won unanimous support in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, makes the fourth drunk driving offense a felony with a presumptive two- to six-year prison sentence. It’s but the bill sponsors were .
The measure’s critics say the bill will do nothing to prevent drunk driving and doesn’t focus enough on treatment issues. A repeat DUI offender who served time behind bars told lawmakers that counseling is what helped her, more so than time in prison.
But sponsor Sen. John Cooke, a Republican and former Weld County sheriff, said the “bill bends over backwards to not put people in prison.”
“Thatap the sentence of last choice,” he said.
The bill next moves to the Senate finance and appropriations committees. The protracted path raises questions about whether it will make it to the finish line before the May 6 adjournment. But sponsors Cooke and Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, are not concerned, saying it has enough votes to win passage.
