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House approves expansion of youth substance-safety program and new license-suspension penalties
Summary
Lawmakers on March 12 adopted committee amendments to H.105 to expand the Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program, reclassify certain impaired-driving incidents for people under 21 as civil violations, and impose initial and escalated license suspensions tied to program participation.
Representative Goodnow (Brattleboro), speaking for the judiciary committee, presented a strike-all amendment to House Bill 105 to expand Vermont’s Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program and to create immediate license-suspension consequences for certain impaired-driving incidents by youth.
Under the committee amendment, certain impaired-driving violations by people under 21 with a breath sample at or above 0.02 would be treated as civil violations handled by the Judicial Bureau rather than delinquency matters in family court. The bill requires enrollment in the youth program and imposes an immediate license suspension: 90 days for a first offense and 145 days for a second or subsequent offense; if a youth fails to complete the required program, the case would go to the Judicial Bureau with potential penalties including a $300 fine and an escalated additional suspension (180 days for a first failure, or up to one year or until the youth turns 21 for a second failure, with credit given for time already suspended).
Committee members told the House they considered suspension lengths carefully as both a deterrent and an incentive to encourage participation in rehabilitative programming. The bill rolls impaired-driving provisions into a revised 7 V.S.A. §656 subdivision and aligns civil treatment for underage impaired-driving with existing civil treatment for underage procurement, possession and consumption violations. Section 5 of the bill sets an effective date of July 1, 2025.
The committee heard a range of witnesses in support of the amendment, including the youth restorative programs manager at the Burlington Community Justice Center, the adolescent services director at the Department for Children and Families, representatives from the defender general’s office, the Vermont State Police safety programs unit, diversion program directors and the deputy commissioner at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The committee voted 8–1–2 to report the bill as amended. The House adopted the committee recommendation by voice vote and ordered third reading.
