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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Steve
McMullen Office of State Rep. Ed Staback Phone: 717-783-5043 |
State Rep. Ed Staback |
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Staback’s BUI bill passes House
HARRISBURG, May 23 – State Rep. Ed Staback announced today that the House of Representatives has passed legislation he sponsored that would give the Fish and Boat Commission further authority to combat boating under the influence (BUI) and enforce laws relating to it.
Staback’s measure, H.B. 778, was written in conjunction with Act 149 of 2006 and ties enforcement regulations of boating under the influence to those of the newly enacted driving under the influence, including the lowering of the legal blood alcohol content to 0.08 percent.
“This measure is something that I have been working on for several months, with the help of the Fish and Boat Commission,” Staback said. “The new guidelines and stiffer penalties are all designed with one purpose in mind: to make our waterways safer by combating boating under the influence.
Staback’s bill includes provisions related to the grading of offenses, so that penalties for boating under the influence are the same as those now in place for driving under the influence.
“The new boating under the influence offense and stiffer penalties should make people rethink plans to operate a watercraft after drinking,” Staback added. “Boating accidents are preventable, especially those in which alcohol has impaired the operator.”
The legislation passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 196-1 and now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
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