Todd Brown for Fiscal Responsibility   Unenforceable Legislation

Connecticut's state legislature should be spending its time making Connecticut a better place to live and work. Laws concerning public health, public safety, public transportation, education and the state budget should be the focus of the legislative session. Some bills are introduced that seem to be introduced to either take up time or to make legislatures feel good about their work. An example of a bill with questionable value is HB 6211 An Act Providing Uniform Fines for Various Illegal Uses of a Mobile Telephone While Operating a Motor Vehicle co-sponsored by my opponent Antonio Guerrera. Don't take this the wrong way; I am strongly against distracted drivers especially drivers paying more attention to a phone call than to driving. In my personal experience I had my car totaled while driving because an out of state driver in a rental car during the morning commute changed lanes into me while talking on his cell phone. He got out of his car while still talking on his phone. Distracted driving is both wrong and illegal. The problem I have with this bill is that we already have a law banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving. The law is not enforced. Everywhere you look people are talking on their hand held cell phone while driving. Why do we need to spend time on a law providing uniform penalties for a law that is not being enforced? Introduce a bill to become a law that will make our lives better. Do not pass a law that will sit on the books. Do not waste time passing a law that will only be selectively enforced.