Representatives of MADD said the chairman of a House committee appears determined to kill a bill requiring ignition interlock devices to be installed on the vehicles of first-time convicted drunk drivers by moving it too late in this year's General Assembly to pass.
MADD chief executive director Charles Hurley made that charge after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Vallario failed to take up the Senate-passed bill during a voting session Thursday -- with only a few days remaining before Monday's adjournment.
Hurley said Vallario has been attempting to forge a consensus to weaken the bill by requiring a blood-alcohol level higher than .08 -- the legal threshold for driving under the influence -- for automatic installation for those found guilty of drunk driving the first time.
The MADD chief said his group would resist any such bill, arguing that a bill weaker than the one passed by the Senate would not save lives. Hurley said the bill -- his group's No. 1 priority for this year -- had already been watered down too much in the Senate by an amendment eliminating the requirement for first-time offenders who receive probation before judgment.
He said that if the bill isn't passed out of the panel Friday, it will likely be dead this session without the intervention of House Speaker Michael E. Busch and Gov. Martin O'Malley.
This issue appears to be one that could remain in suspense down to the wire Monday night. But even if there's no action by Monday morning, remembers that a determined presiding officer such as Busch is capable of cutting through the niceties and making things happen if he really wants a bill on the floor.