Taxi Driver Assault Penalties (H 5046)

In a piece of legislation indicative of the way that the General Assembly often attempts to “carve out” new crimes out of offenses that already are enshrined in state statute, this legislation would have made simple assault, already a misdemeanor, a more serious felony if committed on a taxi driver. We expressed concerns that the bill would have unnecessarily subjectede individuals to the consequences of a felony offense without serving as a meaningful deterrent to the crime. This bill died in committee.