A California Senate committee has quietly gutted one of the state’s most significant drunk driving reform bills in years, despite broad support from other lawmakers and families who lost loved ones to impaired drivers.
The legislation would have required ignition interlock devices for anyone convicted of driving under the influence, bringing California in line with most other states. Under current law, the devices — which prevent a car from starting if they detect alcohol on a driver’s breath — are only mandated after a repeat offense or a DUI crash that results in injury.
State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, an Inland Empire Democrat who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, signaled last week that changes were coming when she referenced amendments the committee had unanimously approved. This week, an updated version of the bill emerged that stripped out a central provision requiring interlock devices for thousands of first-time offenders. Such last-minute changes are often referred to in Sacramento as “hostile amendments” because they are made without the support — or often the knowledge — of the bill’s original author.
The revision comes against a notable backdrop. Cervantes herself was arrested on suspicion of DUI in a widely reported Sacramento incident in May 2025. Prosecutors declined to charge her after a blood test came back negative for drugs and alcohol. She later sued the city of Sacramento and several of its police officers, alleging they fabricated evidence and wrongfully arrested her. Her sister, Clarissa Cervantes, who is running for the state Assembly, has been convicted of DUI twice in Southern California, according to media reports.
Sabrina Cervantes did not respond to a request for comment. This story will be updated if she does.
News of the bill’s unraveling this week left Kellie Montalvo wondering whether some kind of mistake had been made. Montalvo’s 21-year-old son, Benjamin, was killed by a drunk driver in 2020 in the district Cervantes represents. Just two weeks earlier, Montalvo had been in Sacramento lobbying lawmakers — including Cervantes — in support of a package of bills aimed at curbing dangerous driving. Several of those measures have already stalled.
“It’s heartbreaking, and I try to tell myself not to lose hope,” Montalvo said. “I mean, California has to do something. Our numbers are horrifying.”
Federal data show alcohol-related traffic deaths in California have climbed more than 50% over the past decade — an increase more than double the national rate. More than 1,300 people die each year statewide in crashes caused by drunk drivers.
Over the past two years, a CalMatters investigation has documented how state officials have allowed dangerous drivers to remain on the road and cause fatal crashes, and how elected leaders have often looked the other way even as the death toll climbed.
For years, lawmakers have tried and failed to require ignition interlock devices for all DUI offenders. Progressive criminal justice reform groups and the Department of Motor Vehicles have opposed similar bills in the past, citing concerns about unfairly penalizing low-income offenders, high implementation costs and outdated DMV technology.
Montalvo and other advocates believed this year might be different. The DMV had been actively engaged in state hearings and, according to Montalvo and others, provided technical guidance to help ensure the bill’s feasibility. Gov. Gavin Newsom also directed lawmakers last year to keep refining the state’s interlock device laws and to build “a durable program that strengthens public safety.”
It remains unclear exactly why the bill was watered down at the last minute. Public records show that staff for the Senate Appropriations Committee had recently raised concerns about cost.
Even seasoned observers in Sacramento say the amendment process can be difficult to untangle.
“Honestly, sometimes it’s a pretty complicated issue, even for us as lawmakers,” said the bill’s author, Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, an Orange County Democrat. “I’m still trying to sort it out myself.”
Petrie-Norris, who has spent the past three years pushing versions of this legislation, said she does not believe Cervantes’ personal experience played a role in the decision to amend the bill. She said she is continuing to work on restoring elements of the measure after what she described as “unintended consequences” that could make the policy unworkable for the DMV and jeopardize California’s eligibility for federal funding.
When asked for an interview to explain the changes, the office of Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón referred questions to Cervantes. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a senior deputy communications director for Newsom, also declined to answer questions about the interlock bill, saying the governor’s office typically does not comment on pending legislation.
As the bill heads into its final days of negotiation, Montalvo and other families of crash victims say the moment feels painfully familiar. Just a year ago, they traveled to the Capitol with photographs of their loved ones only to be told that similar legislation was doomed to fail.
In the meantime, Montalvo has been keeping in contact with the parole officer overseeing the Riverside County driver who killed her son. The latest update: the driver, released from prison early, is now trying to get her license back.
Original source: CalMatters
