Tuesday March 31, 2009
Lost in the multi-hour debate yesterday on codifying the state Supreme Court’s October decision ordering the institution of gay marriage, was a bill overwhelmingly approved by the Judiciary Committee that would reciprocate criminal sanctions on operating a boat while intoxicated, with a defendant’s vehicular driver’s license.
It next heads to the House of Representatives.
The bill’s impetus were the recent fatal boating collisions on the Connecticut River. If approved and signed into law by the governor, it would trigger a mechanism in the DMV if a skipper with a safe-boating certificate is suspended for boating while intoxicated.
“This should be a deterrent because the ability to drive is important,” Rep. James Spallone, D-Essex, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said during the brief debate.
