A closely watched effort to toughen California’s drunken driving laws has been quietly stripped of its central provision by a state Senate committee, dealing a blow to families of crash victims who had spent years pushing for the change.
The legislation would have made California one of the majority of states requiring anyone convicted of driving under the influence to install an ignition interlock device — an in-car breathalyzer that prevents a vehicle from starting if it detects alcohol on the driver’s breath. Currently, state law only mandates the devices for repeat offenders or those involved in DUI crashes that cause injury.
The bill had been gaining momentum, backed by lawmakers across the political spectrum and by grieving families who have lobbied the Capitol for tougher enforcement. But last week, Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, an Inland Empire Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, signaled that changes were coming, saying amendments had cleared her committee unanimously. When the revised bill surfaced this week, it had been hollowed out — eliminating the requirement that would have applied interlock devices to thousands of first-time DUI offenders.
Such last-minute changes, made without input from a bill’s original author, are known in Sacramento as “hostile amendments.”
The development carries added weight because of Cervantes’ own history with drunken driving allegations. She was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Sacramento in May 2025, though prosecutors declined to file charges after blood tests showed no trace of drugs or alcohol. Cervantes later sued the city of Sacramento and several police officers, claiming she was falsely arrested and that officers fabricated evidence against her. Her sister, Riverside City Councilmember and current Assembly candidate Clarissa Cervantes, has been convicted twice of DUI in Southern California, according to news reports.
Sabrina Cervantes did not respond to requests for comment.
For Kellie Montalvo, the news landed like a gut punch. Her 21-year-old son, Benjamin, was killed by an impaired driver in 2020 within Cervantes’ Senate district. Just two weeks ago, Montalvo had traveled to Sacramento to lobby lawmakers — Cervantes included — in support of a package of bills aimed at curbing dangerous driving. Most of those measures have already stalled or failed this session.
“It’s heartbreaking, and I try to tell myself not to lose hope,” Montalvo said. “I mean, California has got to do something. Our numbers are horrific.”
The concern is backed by data. Alcohol-related traffic deaths in California have surged more than 50% over the past decade, a rate more than double the national increase, according to federal figures. More than 1,300 people are killed each year in the state in crashes involving impaired drivers.
A two-year investigation by CalMatters has documented how state regulators have repeatedly allowed high-risk drivers to remain behind the wheel, and how state leaders have largely avoided confronting the rising death toll.
Efforts to mandate breathalyzer devices for all DUI convictions have failed in the Legislature for years, often facing resistance from criminal justice reform advocates and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Critics have warned the requirement could disproportionately burden low-income offenders, along with concerns about cost and the DMV’s outdated technology systems.
This year, advocates believed conditions had finally aligned for passage. The DMV took an active role in legislative hearings, offering technical guidance to help craft a workable version of the bill. Gov. Gavin Newsom had also urged lawmakers last year to keep refining the state’s interlock device laws to build “a lasting program that strengthens public safety.”
Why the bill was gutted at the last minute remains murky. Legislative records show Senate Appropriations Committee staff had raised concerns about the cost of implementation.
Even lawmakers say the process by which such changes occur can be difficult to trace. “Honestly, it’s sometimes a bit of a black box even for us as legislators,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, an Orange County Democrat who authored the bill and has pushed similar legislation for three years. “I am still trying myself to get to the bottom of it.”
Petrie-Norris said she doesn’t believe Cervantes’ personal legal situation influenced the decision to strip the bill’s core language. She said she is now working to restore key provisions after what she described as “unintended consequences” that could make the policy unworkable for the DMV and jeopardize California’s eligibility for certain federal highway safety funding.
Senate President Pro Tem Monique Límon’s office declined to discuss the matter directly, referring inquiries back to Cervantes. A spokesperson for Newsom, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, also declined to comment, citing the administration’s general policy of not weighing in on pending legislation.
As the bill enters its final stretch of negotiations before the legislative session ends, Montalvo and other families who have lost loved ones to impaired drivers say the moment feels painfully familiar. Almost exactly a year ago, they stood in the Capitol holding photos of their children and were told a similar reform effort was already dead.
In the meantime, Montalvo continues checking in with the parole officer overseeing the Riverside County driver convicted in her son’s death. She said she recently learned the driver, released early from prison, is now trying to get her license reinstated.
Original source: CalMatters
