Rep. Campfield:

The Gov is killing the drunk driver licence [sic] revocation bill. He is saying he can not afford the 75 employees needed to process the information. I started to wonder. 75 people to type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV? How many drunk drivers does the state catch in one year?

I did some simple math, lets just say it takes all of ten minutes to type one in. That is 6 per hour x 8 hours in a day x 5 days a week x 50 weeks a year x 75 employees that totaled 900,000 DUI arrests in one year. I did not realize that almost 1/6 of the states total population of 6 million (That includes every man, women, child and elderly person of the state. some who I doubt drive at all) get arrested every year for a DUI! Look out, our roads are more dangerous then I thought.

Fortunately, the Tennessee legislature doesn't pass bills based on simple-minded calculations such as these. Bills must have a "fiscal note" explaining the financial impact of the legislation.

The bill in question is HB4213/SB4196. The fiscal note for HB4213 says there are "34,000 DUI arrests and approximately 27,000 convictions per year," which answers Campfield's first question.

It goes on to say:

To implement the provisions of this bill [Department of Safety] will require the following additional resources: 44 additional positions in the Driver License Issuance Division; 17 additional positions in the Information Processing Division; two additional positions in the Human Resource Division; two additional positions in the Fiscal Services Division; three additional positions in Information Resources; and seven additional positions in the Legal Division. The total number of positions required is estimated to be 75.

It also estimates that three additional Chancellors with two support positions each will be needed to handle appeals, plus one additional Court of Appeals Judge with a staff of three support positions.

This bill appears to be a more comprehensive replacement for HB2882, which Campfield co-sponsored. The fiscal note for HB2882 says the Department of Safety would need 35 additional employees and that the Attorney General would need two additional lawyers and a paralegal.

So Rep. Campfield doesn't even read or understand the legislation he cosponsors and supports, or he would know that there is a lot more to it than hiring someone to "type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV."

Drafting legislation is complicated business best suited for adults. Perhaps the simple-minded ought to find more suitable work.