State Rep. Chris Quinn, R-168 of Middletown, and state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24 of Marlborough Township, announced a new pair of bills Friday that aim to clamp down on repeat drunk drivers in the state with harsher penalties.
The bills are a second effort to get something passed in the name of Deana Eckman, 45, who was killed by David Strowhouer in a drunk-driving crash as she and her husband, Chris, were returning home from a family gathering Feb. 16, 2019.
Both the House and Senate bill are numbered 773 in honor of Eckman’s birthday. They propose essentially the same changes, except that the Senate bill includes a provision for “continuous alcohol monitoring” devices, also known as CAM.
A prior bill named for Eckman crafted by former Republican state Sen. Tom Killion of Middletown, was defeated last year. That was chiefly due to an amendment that carved out marijuana “used lawfully” under the state’s Medical Marijuana Act from definitions for a “controlled substance,” which was later removed, and opposition from second amendment organizations over penalties including first-degree felonies, which bar an offender from later owning firearms.