Proposal: Revoke licenses for repeat drunken drivers

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin lawmaker has resurrected his bill calling for stripping repeat drunken drivers of their licenses for at least a decade.

Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard's proposal calls for revoking licenses of anyone who commits four or more drunken driving offenses or anyone who commits two or more offenses and has at least two convictions for serious crimes involving a vehicle. The drivers wouldn't be eligible for occupational licenses and couldn't apply for another license for 10 years.

The measure is up for a public hearing Tuesday in the Senate judiciary committee. Wanggaard chairs that committee.

The City of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association and the Wisconsin Troopers Association all have registered in favor of the bill. No groups have registered against it. Tavern league lobbyist Scott Stenger said he hadn't seen the bill but the league supports any legislation to curb repeat offenses.

Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. Jim Ott have introduced bills to create a five-year minimum prison sentence for homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle; raise the minimum incarceration period for fifth and sixth offenses from six months to 18 months; and prohibit all repeat offenders and first-timers with a blood-alcohol percentage of 0.15 or greater from driving without an ignition interlock device, which prevents a car from starting if it detects a certain alcohol level in a driver. The interlock bill passed the Assembly in May. All three measures are up for a public hearing in Wanggaard's judiciary committee on Tuesday as well.

It's unclear what Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate think about it, though. A nearly identical measure last session  cleared the Assembly but died in the Senate.

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