Sen. Champagne Statement on Clean Slate Reversal, Passage of Bill to Support Law Enforcement

Changes Follow Republican Efforts to Highlight Dangerous Provisions of Democrat Record Erasure Bill

 Assistant Senate Republican Leader Dan Champagne (R-Vernon) released the following statement in response to the Senate reversing multiple provisions of the “clean slate” record erasure bill passed last week by Democrats:

“This bill, as amended, is another step in the right direction but it is not perfect. I’m pleased, though, that these egregious crimes were removed from automatic erasure, as Senate Republicans originally suggested in the interest of keeping our community safe,” said Sen. Champagne.

“I’m disappointed, however, that changes were not made to Section 7 of this legislation, which negatively impacts an officer’s ability to conduct a motor vehicle search. As a former police officer, I know that most of the drugs and weapons seized in the state originate from an officer’s search of a vehicle. This legislation deters officers from doing their job and I hope to work with my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to fix this,” he said.