MADISON, Wis. — An assembly committee has passed two pieces of legislation aimed at reducing drunken driving.
The first bill would require first-time OWI offenders to appear personally in court.
If an offender fails to appear, they could face a $300 fine.
The bill's author, Representative Jim Ott, says having an offender appear before a judge can have a powerful effect.
"I think for some people it might be a wake up experience in saying, 'I don't ever want to do this again,'" he said. "That's exactly what we want people to think who get arrested for first offense OWI."
Right now in Wisconsin, a person who gets an OWI more than ten years after the first still has that second offense treated as a first. This bill would change that and make it a misdemeanor.
The second bill passed on Thursday would require offenders convicted in OWI homicide cases to spend at least five years in prison.
Wisconsin currently has no mandatory minimums on these cases.
"The purpose is not to make people pay higher fines or have people serve more time in incarceration," Ott said. "The purpose is to provide a deterrence to very bad behavior, which is drunk driving, and to the extent that we can do that, we make our roads safer for everyone."
Ott said these bills will now go to the full assembly for consideration.
He also hopes that a bill making a first-offense OWI a criminal misdemeanor can go before the assembly committee.
