Senator lays out plans for future
Senator Greg Hinkle has been dedicating a large portion of his time drafting bills and outlining his plans for change before the Senate meets in 2011.
Since Hinkle is a hold-over senator and does not have to run for reelection, he is taking the time to draft a total of 12 bills to be introduced to the Montana state legislature in the coming months. Most notable is a bill being designed and then drafted to put stricter penalties on DUI offenders throughout the state.
“I liken it (DUI cases) to a leaky kitchen faucet, we have a problem and it has to be fixed, but to fix it you have to shut the water off. You can’t fix it without getting to the source of the problem and I believe with this DUI problem you have to get to the source,” said Hinkle who believes the problem begins with kids who start drinking in high school.
Hinkle said he does not believe that high school kids understand the ramifications of drinking or drinking and driving and this is where the root of the problem lies. The solution to this, according to Hinkle, is through education. He would like to see something similar to the Montana Meth Project enacted with drunk driving. The Montana Meth Project set up billboards and produced television commercials to show the harm and impact of meth use, which produced a decline in use across the state.
“Let’s get to the root of the problem as part of the solution, cut the flow off and educate young people of the hazards of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and then start making the penalties so severe that if you are caught it’s a real hard slap on the wrist,” said Hinkle.
Hinkle is proposing stricter DUI laws for offenders of all ages. First, Hinkle wants to set the laws based on a “three strikes and you’re out” policy and have tough penalties for each time a person is caught drinking and driving. For a first time offender, Hinkle suggests a mandatory two to three days in jail. For the second offense he suggests six-month jail time with an additional period of a suspended license. And for the third DUI offense, a person would face serious prison time and a permanent removal of that person’s license.
“They will get burned or we’ll slap their wrists and we have to do one or the other and if they get burned hard enough they won’t do it again,” said Hinkle. This bill is only in its initial drafting stages.
On top of working on drafting a bill for stricter DUI laws, Hinkle currently introduced a bill to illegalize physician-assisted suicide, which was made legal in a Supreme Court decision this past year.
Hinkle explained that physician assisted suicide does not deal with someone who is terminally ill or on a life support system where their family members can decide turn it off. Hinkle used the example of going into diabetic shock, which is under the terminally ill category and something a person can recover from. However, now that this bill has passed, a doctor can say that a person is permanently ill and can decide to kill that person, even if they could have the potential to recover.
“You no longer have control of your own life,” said Hinkle. “I’m laying the groundwork, the bill has just been drafted and will get really big as time goes on.”
Hinkle has plans to introduce ten more bills before session meets in 2011, three of which will deal with changing the fish and game laws and three to change the current property tax laws. One bill he is working on drafting will attempt to define the word “civil office” in the state constitution.
An additional bill called the Sheriff’s first bill will require any federal agency to notify the county sheriff’s office of any action they are going to complete within the county, which the sheriff will have to give written permission for the action’s completion.
“All the bills are heavy hitters and could be very controversial,” said Hinkle.
The legislature is set to meet on March 3 to discuss state budget issues.