A bill that would make repeated drunken-driving convictions far more serious under state law unanimously passed in a state House voice vote Tuesday.
The amended bill would make a fourth DUI conviction in a lifetime a felony. An earlier version had set the felony at three DUIs in seven years. A top priority of Gov. John Hickenlooper, the measure brought emotional testimony at its first hearing in February.
“It’s time to say enough is enough,” Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, the bill’s sponsor, said Tuesday.
Republican Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono, said: “This is the role of government, to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The cost to the Department of Corrections is expected to be steep, $27.9 million from next year through 2020, according to a legislative analysis.
