Latest / Commentary - TJ Meadows / Why Isn’t Baylea’s Law Running?

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Why Isn’t Baylea’s Law Running? · Commentary - TJ Meadows

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let me ask a simple question, why isn't Bailey's Law moving?
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: In the legislature. Sometimes bills stall for understandable reasons. Lawmakers
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: may disagree on policy, there might be constitutional concerns, or
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  Speaker 1: a proposal might conflict with existing law. But sometimes a
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  Speaker 1: bill that most people would consider good policy just stops.
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  Speaker 1: Bailey's Law appears to be one of those cases. House
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  Speaker 1: Bill forty seven to twelve past the House of Delegates unanimously,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: ninety five to nothing, not close, not controversial, unanimous. The
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  Speaker 1: bill would increase the penalty for dui causing death from
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  Speaker 1: the current three to thirteen year prison sentence to a
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  Speaker 1: new range of five to thirty years. It would also
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  Speaker 1: prevent probation, home confinement or youthful offender treatment when a
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  Speaker 1: court determines the driver showed deliberate disregard for the safety
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  Speaker 1: of others. The bill is named after Bailey Bauer, a
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  Speaker 1: twenty four year old Boone County woman killed in a
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  Speaker 1: dui crash on Easter Sunday last year. Delegate Josh Holstein,
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  Speaker 1: who sponsored the bill and Neubauer personally, said the legislation
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  Speaker 1: was prompted in part by the sentence given to the
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  Speaker 1: driver responsible for the crash home confinement followed by placement
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  Speaker 1: and a youthful offender program. Holstein argues the punishment didn't
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  Speaker 1: match the severity of the crime. The House agreed again
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  Speaker 1: ninety five to zero. But since arriving in the Senate,
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  Speaker 1: the bill has been sitting in the Judiciary Committee. It
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  Speaker 1: was referred there in late February, and so far it
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  Speaker 1: hasn't appeared on the committee's agenda. Meanwhile, the clock is
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  Speaker 1: ticking toward day sixty. Why no one seems to know.
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  Speaker 1: A request for comment from Judiciary Chairman Tom Willis, who
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  Speaker 1: is also running for US Senate, was not returned before
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  Speaker 1: deadline without an explanation. The natural conclusion is the bill
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  Speaker 1: may have fallen victim to politics. That would be unfortunate.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: Forgiveness is something we should all strive to extend, even
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  Speaker 1: in tragic situations like this one. But forgiveness has never
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  Speaker 1: meant eliminating consequences. Bailey Bower deserved better, and so do
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: the families of every victim whose life has been cut
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  Speaker 1: short because someone chose to drive impaired. There's still time
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  Speaker 1: to move the bill. All it takes is placing it
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  Speaker 1: on the agenda and letting it receive a vote on
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  Speaker 1: its merits,