CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Advocates are questioning why state senators removed fees on drunken drivers in a proposal meant to generate funds for people with brain injuries.
The original legislation (SB657) would boost fees for accident reports and impose $50 fees on DUI offenders. That money would help pay for services for West Virginians with traumatic brain injuries.
On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee removed the DUI penalties at Chairman Walt Helmick's request. The legislation still hikes accident-report fees from $20 to $30.
Helmick told the Gazette on Tuesday that in a bad economy, he doesn't want to raise fees on anyone, including drunk drivers.
"We just didn't think it was an appropriate thing to do," the Pocahontas County Democrat said. "I don't want to raise taxes or fees."
The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday.
The DUI fines would raise about $190,000 a year, said Susan Perry, deputy secretary of legal services for the state Department of Health and Human Services. Part of that could be matched by federal funds.
Car wrecks are a leading cause of brain injuries, said Mike Davis, president of the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia. Half of all brain injuries caused by motor vehicles are alcohol-related.
"This fee can help a lot of people who are injured because of other people's negligence," Davis said.
Traumatic brain injuries can cause depression, personality changes, memory loss, blurred vision, speech problems and loss of coordination.
Services for people with the injury are one component of an ongoing Kanawha County court case about how the state administers mental-health services. The case also deals with overcrowding in psychiatric hospitals.
Jennifer Wagner, a Mountain State Justice lawyer who represents petitioners in that case, said she is glad the bill is moving forward, but "extremely disappointed" that senators removed the DUI fines.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Advocates are questioning why state senators removed fees on drunken drivers in a proposal meant to generate funds for people with brain injuries.
The original legislation (SB657) would boost fees for accident reports and impose $50 fees on DUI offenders. That money would help pay for services for West Virginians with traumatic brain injuries.
On Monday, the Senate Finance Committee removed the DUI penalties at Chairman Walt Helmick's request. The legislation still hikes accident-report fees from $20 to $30.
Helmick told the Gazette on Tuesday that in a bad economy, he doesn't want to raise fees on anyone, including drunk drivers.
"We just didn't think it was an appropriate thing to do," the Pocahontas County Democrat said. "I don't want to raise taxes or fees."
The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday.
The DUI fines would raise about $190,000 a year, said Susan Perry, deputy secretary of legal services for the state Department of Health and Human Services. Part of that could be matched by federal funds.
Car wrecks are a leading cause of brain injuries, said Mike Davis, president of the Brain Injury Association of West Virginia. Half of all brain injuries caused by motor vehicles are alcohol-related.
"This fee can help a lot of people who are injured because of other people's negligence," Davis said.
Traumatic brain injuries can cause depression, personality changes, memory loss, blurred vision, speech problems and loss of coordination.
Services for people with the injury are one component of an ongoing Kanawha County court case about how the state administers mental-health services. The case also deals with overcrowding in psychiatric hospitals.
Jennifer Wagner, a Mountain State Justice lawyer who represents petitioners in that case, said she is glad the bill is moving forward, but "extremely disappointed" that senators removed the DUI fines.
Those penalties could deter drunken driving, and also make offenders pay for the consequences of their actions, she said
"I think it's an extremely appropriate and well-targeted use of fees," she said. "It's not like a tax. You choose whether or not you drive intoxicated."
Under a court order, DHHR was supposed to seek a federal Medicaid waiver for people with traumatic brain injuries by Jan. 1. A waiver program would let people get services -- such as personal-care aides and transportation -- in their homes and communities, rather than being institutionalized.
At a hearing last week, department officials told Circuit Judge Duke Bloom they expect to implement the program in about 18 months.
The judge criticized that timeline as unacceptable.
Advocates for brain-injury victims have been pushing the state for years to apply for a federal waiver. DHHR has previously agreed to do so, but never did.
Half the money raised by the legislation would be devoted to the waiver program. The other half would assist people who don't qualify for that program.
Brain injuries are devastating for families, especially those who can't get in-home services, said Davis of the brain-injury association.
"I just left a nursing home in Shepherdstown ... where a young man who is 21 years old is laying in a semi-comatose state," he said. "[His mother] doesn't know where else to turn ... She has to rely on a nursing home to take care of him for the rest of his life."
Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
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When a person is convicted of a DUI offense in any court, the surcharge is added to his/her fine that is imposed by the judge in the case. Court clerks are responsible for collecting the surcharge and remitting it to the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA). The GSCCCA then forwards the funds to the Georgia Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services (OTFS), where all of the money is credited to the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, a separate fund in the state treasury. OTFS is allowed by law to invest the Trust Fund moneys in the same way in which other moneys from the state treasury are invested.
This program works!! Why not charge the drunks....they cause most of these injuries!! Because of a drunk, my sister spent 22 years in a wheelchair!