The Senate Judiciary committee Tuesday morning unanimously passed a bipartisan bill that would make repeated drunk driving a felony offense in the state of Colorado.

House Bill 15-1043, with Senate sponsors John Cooke, R-Greeley, a member of the Judiciary committee, and Mike Johnston, D-Denver, got a 5-0 nod after several victims of accidents involving drunk driving and their family members had delivered emotional testimony.

Under current law, a DUI is a misdemeanor offense. HB 1043 amends that and makes a fourth such offense a class 4 felony – which could lead to two to six years in prison. Under the proposed language, a repeated DUI also becomes a class 4 felony if the violation occurred within seven years of two prior convictions if either a minor was in the car, the violation caused damage or injury, the defendant fled the scene or if the violator had a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher within two hours of the offense.

After a similar bill failed last year over cost concerns, a series of recent deadly accidents involving drunk drivers helps HB 1043’s chances to make its way to the governor’s desk and into law this time around.

In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Hickenlooper had pronounced the passage of a felony DUI bill a key priority of the ensuing session, and he has continued to voice his support for its passage – including via Dave Hall, a lobbyist for the Colorado State Patrol who testified on behalf of the administration at Tuesday’s hearing. Colorado is one of only four states in the union without a felony DUI law.

Opponents of the bill, who include the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, urged lawmakers to vote no on the bill Tuesday. Their argument was one that had helped doom last year’s similar proposal: It would do nothing to cure the problem of alcoholism at the root of repeated DUIs.

But Sen. Cooke, who was involved in an accident with a drunk driver himself in November, but suffered only minor injuries, opposed such claims. He pointed to a section in the bill that urges the courts to consider incarceration only as the last resort. “[The court] must determine that incarceration is the most suitable option given the facts and circumstances of the case, including the defendant’s willingness to participate in treatment,” the bills language reads. “Additionally, the court shall consider whether all other reasonable and appropriate sanctions and responses to the violation (…) have been exhausted, do not appear likely to be successful if tried, or present an unacceptable risk to public safety.”

Nonetheless, Sen. Johnston said at the hearing, “when you have the case of someone who is a serial drunk driver with 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 DUIs, who is putting people’s lives at risk, there is the opportunity for this person to serve time in prison” – before a deadly accident happens.

The felony DUI bill passed the House on a 64-1 vote April 15, with Rep. Justin Everett, R-Littleton, forming the sole opposition. It had stalled for weeks amid recurring concerns over the price tag. The original bill was expected to cost $17.5 million by fiscal year 2018. As amended, the cost would now be $8 million by 2018.

After Tuesday’s vote in the Judiciary committee, the bill now heads to Finance before it will also have to clear the Appropriations committee hurdle.

– lars@coloradostatesman.com & @LarsGesing