Notes from the West Wing

Notes from the West Wing

December 21st, 2009 |

Posted by State Representative Garey Bies, Dec 21, 2009

Drunk Driving and Asian Carp

Hello everyone out there in the First Assembly District! Before we get into today’s topics, I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. With no legislative activity scheduled until January, this is likely my last column for 2009. So for this last 2009 edition of Notes from the West Wing, I want to talk about legislative activity this week on Drunken Driving and Asian Carp.

This week, the State Assembly and State Senate met in Extraordinary Session to consider legislation to toughen Wisconsin’s drunken driving laws. As you may know, earlier this fall the Assembly and Senate each passed bills regarding drunken driving. However, the two bills differed and neither house passed the other’s legislation, so a new version of the legislation was needed, one that both houses can approve.

The Democrats made passing the new drunken driving legislation a priority for their agenda so the legislature was called into a special session in order to be able to pass the legislation before the end of the year. Toughening Wisconsin’s drunken driving laws has been a priority of mine for years, and I am very pleased to see this action happening, but why has not the same importance been placed upon job creation or stimulating Wisconsin’s economy?

None the less, the legislation passed this week makes some important improvements including making a fourth offense a felony, requiring the use of ignition interlock devices, and increasing the fines and penalties on those convicted. The legislation does not, however, criminalize the first offense or make the third offense a felony which my own legislation would do. Because of this some will say that the legislation passed this week does not go far enough. While on one hand I tend to agree (hence my own legislation), anything we can do to make existing law tougher is an improvement.

This week the Assembly also passed a Resolution authored by me and Representative Jon Richards (D-Milwaukee) authorizing Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to pursue any and all legal means to prevent invasive Asian Carp from getting into Lake Michigan. The State of Michigan’s Attorney General is in the process of filing a lawsuit to force closure of locks on the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal to make sure the carp do not enter Lake Michigan, and we have now given Attorney General Van Hollen the authority to take similar action. This invasive species could destroy the $7 billion dollar per year fishing industry in the Great Lakes and radically alter the environment of the lakes.

These fish came up the Mississippi River and have been kept in check by electronic barriers which may now be failing. Last week I sent letters to members of Wisconsin’s Congressional Delegation, including Congressman Steve Kagen, asking them to pressure the Obama Administration to close the locks to make sure the carp do not get into Lake Michigan. These fish destroy the natural habitat of the waters they infest, and devastate native fish populations. It is imperative that action is taken quickly.

Notes from the West Wing

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