Dear Neighbors,
After working with members of the Senate to work out details on language, Drake’s Law is ready to head to the House floor for a vote after a hearing on Tuesday in the House Public Safety Committee.
House File 71 is named in honor of Drake Bigler, the five month old son of Brad and Heather Bigler, who was tragically killed in a drunk driving accident in 2012. Drake’s father, Brad, is the head basketball coach at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
Drake’s law helps strengthen Minnesota’s drunk driving conviction laws by increasing the maximum sentence for criminal vehicular homicide occurring within 10 years of a previous qualifying offense—increasing the maximum sentence from 10 to 15 years.
I would like to thank the Bigler family for their continued dedication and advocacy in their son’s memory as this bill has moved through the legislature.
You can watch the bill’s presentation in committee here.
In other news, last week, members of the House State Government Finance Committee created a website that gives Minnesotans the opportunity to easily share their experiences using MNsure with lawmakers.
As always, I encourage you to contact me directly if you are having issues with MNsure, but this website gives you another opportunity to share your story more broadly.
You can give us your input at this link: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/cmte/comment.
We need as much information as possible to address MNsure’s on-going issues, and come to a solution that is affordable for Minnesotans.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding these issues or anything else before the legislature, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached by phone at 651-296-5374 or via email at rep.chris.swedzinski@house.mn.
Have a great weekend!
Chris