Legislators in the General Assembly currently are faced with dozens of bills to create stricter laws relating to driving under the influence, including one proposal that would implement a mandatory three-day minimum jail sentence for first-time offenders.
Meanwhile, the Senate is reviewing a bill approved by the House of Delegates Monday that would allow state-operated liquor stores in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to open on Sundays.
Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, co-sponsored many of the DUI bills.
"People keep on driving drunk," Albo said. "Drunk driving arrests have actually increased."
Del. Robert Bell, R-Albemarle, the former assistant commonwealth attorney for Orange County, expressed concerns that convicted drunk drivers are getting off too easily.
"I have personally done over 200 of these cases as a prosecutor," Bell said. "It was very distressing whenever you'd have a defendant win on a technicality or lose but only get a slap on the wrist."
Albo said the legislators have approached the bills with three goals in mind -- to close loopholes so people who are guilty cannot avoid prosecution, to increase the punishments for offenders and to create bills that make it easier to prove that stopped drivers are intoxicated.
Bell, along with Albo and Del. Bob McDonnell, R-Va. Beach, has proposed one bill that would lower the blood alcohol content for mandatory jail time from .20 to .15.
Over 40 other DUI-related House bills currently are being reviewed by the Courts of Justice Committee.
Delegates will meet on Sunday and work to consolidate the related measures and pass the bills, Albo said.
Albo is the chief patron behind a bill to keep Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control stores open on Sundays, currently in review by the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee.
The revenue from potential sales could generate $2 to $8 million for the Commonwealth because consumers then could spend their money in the state versus traveling to neighboring localities, Albo said.
When Virginia liquor stores are closed on Sundays, consumers in Northern Virginia can purchase liquor in neighboring Maryland and the District of Columbia. In the Hampton Roads area, consumers can purchase liquor locally on military bases, according to committee member Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville.
"It's legal to buy beer and wine on Sundays at grocery and convenience stores, but you can't go to the ABC store and buy hard liquor," Deeds said, expressing his support for the proposed bill.
Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, voted against the bill in the House, maintaining that ABC vendors are state-run and not something the Commonwealth should promote.
Although the proposal would not affect his district, Cox said if the bill passes and the new system generates profits, it will be implemented state-wide.
"Just from a family standpoint I think it's nice to not have ABC stores open on Sundays," Cox said. "I can't imagine anyone in my district going to church in the morning and then stopping at an ABC store on the way back to pick up a fifth."
The bills must be approved by both chambers of the General Assembly before the end of session on March 13 to become law. If Gov. Mark R. Warner approves the bills, they will take effect July 1.
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