As a result of too many high profile drunken driver arrests involving California legislators, state senate officials have hired designated driving employees to drive home inebriated lawmakers.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León refused to discuss details of the program. “
We’re not going to provide comment, because it’s a security issue,” his spokesman, Anthony Reyes, said.
The Sacramento Bee reported that four lawmakers in the past five years have been accused of driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Known as “special services assistants,” the designated drivers work in the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Office and are responsible for providing “ground transportation for Senate members.”
The Bee reported that the two employees—a retired Assembly sergeant-at-arms and a retiree from the Department of General Services—are paid $2,532 per month, of course at taxpayer expense.
A man who turned down the position said that the job description mandated that he work from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. or 7 a.m. to drive senators home “just if they were drinking too much… and to pick them up and take them home.”
One legislative chief of staff told the Bee that the service is intended to prevent drunken driving by legislators.
State senators are given a small plastic card showing the “Sacramento 24 hr transportation” phone number. The card offers a stylish picture displaying a “California State Senate” banner across the top and a photo of the Capitol dome in the background. “In case of an emergency”—read extra loaded and designated drivers are already occupied with their esteemed colleagues—senators can call Senate’s Chief Sergeant-at-Arms Debbie Manning, who’s direct number appears on the card.
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