The state Senate committee that deals with corrections heard testimony at the state Capitol Thursday on several bills, including two measures concerning driver's license suspension and revocation for convicted drug offenders.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary Corrections, Insurance, Campaign Finance Reform and Housing introduced the bills.
Testifiers showed overwhelming support for Senate Bill 36 and Senate Joint Resolution 6, which are bipartisan efforts to make Wisconsin the 38th state to give judges the discretion to suspend or not suspend the licenses of convicted drug offenders.
Since 1990, Wisconsin judges have been required to suspend or revoke driving privileges for drug violations entirely unrelated to driving. Anyone prosecuted for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of controlled substances is prosecuted under a different statute.
State Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, is chair of the committee and spoke in favor of both reforms simultaneously, saying the committee has talked to people throughout Wisconsin who have lost jobs because of suspended or revoked licenses.
A driver's license can be crucial to a citizen trying to rebuild their lives after a drug conviction,"" Taylor said.
For many people, especially those living in rural or poor urban areas of Wisconsin, losing their license could mean unemployment.
""Driving is a privilege, but it is also a lifeline,"" Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard said in a letter.
According to Taylor, people who lose driving privileges ""are forced to either drive illegally, resulting in a vicious cycle of more tickets and fines, or not drive at all.""
""To stop that cycle we've come up with a policy that will create a resolution to a problem, still move us to having more efficient public safety, giving the choice to the judges, giving discretion to the judges,"" Taylor said.
Nichole Yunk, director of the Center for Driver's License Recovery and Employability, also spoke out in favor of the reforms, saying that by revoking drug offenders' driving privileges, the state is unnecessarily defeating its own goals of rehabilitation.
According to Dane County Judge John Albert, ""judges see this issue as relieving overburdened court staffs.
