A “five strikes” drunk driving bill will be the focus of a public hearing at the Capitol today. The proposal would revoke the driver’s license of a repeat offender after a 5th OWI, or 3rd OWI for convictions on multiple serious offenses.
“I’ve tried to build a lot of support” for the bill, said state Representative Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay), the bill’s principal author. “From the beginning we’ve had the Wisconsin Professional Police Associaiton, sheriffs and deputies accross the state supporting the legislation.”
State Representative Andre Jacque (R-DePere) is a co-sponsor of the bill, and state Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) has authored the Senate version.
“While my collegaues and I certainly acknowledge that this is no silver bullet, we believe it’s an important step in the right direction,” said Genrich. “It’s our saying ‘enough is enough.'”
The bill gets a hearing today before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.