Capitol Media Services

 Drunk driving

 Some new laws designed to curb both drunken driving and drunken boating got their final approval Friday.

 Gov. Janet Napolitano signed HB 2643 which updates existing law which make it illegal to operate a watercraft while intoxicated.

 The big change is that it increases the penalties to be more in line with those of driving a car or truck with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit.

 The legislation also plugs some loopholes in current drunk driving laws that allowed some motorists convicted of breakin the law to get back their driving privileges in less than 90 days.

 This is actually the second time Napolitano has seen the issue.

 She vetoed an earlier version because it also contained a provision that would have altered the existing requirement that anyone convicted of driving while intoxicated be forbidden fro operating a vehicle for a year unless it was outfitted with an ignition interlock. That device is designed to prevent a vehicle from starting or continuing to run unless the driver provides  “clean’’ breath sample.

 That first version would have let a judge reduce that time of restricted driving privileges to just six months if the motoris completed an approved drug or alcohol treatment or educatio program. Napolitano said the current one-year requirement, whic has been in effect for less than a year, should be given a chance to work before alterations are made.

 Code of conduct

 Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed legislation Friday which would have required the state Board of Education to come up with a proposed code of conduct that public and charter schools could adopt fo employees.

 Sen. Linda Gray, R-Glendale, said most schools have very clear codes of conduct to inform students of what is acceptable and what is not. She said SB 1341 was designed to give local school boards the opportunity to enact clear policies that tell teachers and staff about what is expected of them, something she said man districts do not have.

 But Napolitano, in her veto message, said she believes most school boards already have such codes which have been “customized to their needs.’’ And the governor said those that do not have other options to find sample codes.

 Behavior analysts

 A bid to create a new state board to regulate behavior analysts was quashed Friday when Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed the measure.

 State law spells out who can provide behavioral health services in Arizona, a list that currently does not include behavior analysts. But that field is recognized nationally and Northern Arizona University offers an online graduate program in the practice.

 HB 2470 would have set up a board to regulate the field, a move that also would allow them to practice on their own without bein under the supervision of others already licensed to practice in other fields like psychologists and social workers.

 Napolitano, in her veto message, said there are fewer than 35 people in the state who would be affected. She said it makes more financial sense to have practitioners licensed by either the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners or the Board of Psychologist Examiners, both of which already have the staff and experience.