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Time is Running Out to Pass Ohio's Proposed "Annie's Law"

Walt Rooney is urging Ohio legislators to curtail drunk driving.
JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Walt Rooney is urging Ohio legislators to curtail drunk driving.

A new bill could allow expanded use of in-car breathalyzers for people convicted of drunken driving. Backers of the bill hope state senators will act soon on the measure.

Annie Rooney of Ross County was killed by a repeat drunk driver in 2013. Her brother Walt has been asking Ohio senators to pass what’s been called Annie’s Law, which provides incentives for requiring drunk drivers to install the devices.

“It would act like a probation officer every time they try to start their vehicle. If they do blow alcohol into it after they are convicted, it would not start the vehicle.”

The bill passed the House easily, but Republican Sen. Jay Hottinger says he’s not sure there’s time to pass it in the Senate.

“The difficulty I think right now is the process of whether or not we can have enough committee hearings to be able to weigh the bill and, in short order, get it through.”

If the Senate doesn’t pass it, the bill will die and the process would have to start over with the next General Assembly in January.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.
Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.