Booster seat rule dropped after Pawlenty objects

05/08/2008

Associated Press
May 7, 2008


A transportation policy bill is headed for floor votes in both houses Thursday without a booster seat requirement that bothered Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

A House-Senate conference committee stripped mandatory booster seats for children ages 4 to 8 from the package after Pawlenty twice sent them letters outlining his objections to the bill. The second letter said the booster seat provision left "unanswered questions."

Several panel members said they weren't happy about making the last-minute changes at a meeting Wednesday, after they thought they had finished their bill. But they said they were willing to do it to get other provisions into law, including new teen driving restrictions and a measure allowing law enforcement to stop and ticket unbelted drivers.

"I don't expect to get another letter," said Rep. Terry Morrow, DFL-St. Peter. "What I expect to see now is that both houses pass this bill in a bipartisan way and that the governor is going to sign this bill."

Stopping briefly to speak to reporters on his way to an event, Pawlenty said he hadn't seen the changes yet and repeated the concerns outlined in his letter — including a desire to let parents opt their teenage children out of driving restrictions that include a curfew and limits on passengers.

Rep. Melissa Hortman, the lead House negotiator for the bill, said the panel did not adopt that provision after hearing from law enforcement representatives who said it would make the restrictions hard to enforce.

Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said the booster seat requirement would have prevented serious injuries to children who are too small for adult-sized seat belts.

The panel also added a provision that would prevent speeding tickets for going up to 70 miles per hour in a 60-mph zone from going on a driver's record.