The proposal, which heads to the full Senate floor for a vote soon, is part of a broader effort to review criminal sentences and relieve the costs of running the crowded prison system, which could swell to 100,000 inmates by year's end.
About 1,662 inmates are jailed in state prison for driving with suspended licenses -- one of the fastest-growing groups in the system. Legislative analysts could not determine how many of those offenders would not have been imprisoned.
Right now, anyone convicted for a third time of driving with a suspended license faces a third-degree felony punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence. But under this bill, the third conviction for those with clean criminal records would remain a misdemeanor -- like the previous two offenses -- and be punishable by 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Also eligible for a misdemeanor charge on the third conviction would be those convicted as minors ineligible to drive, as habitual traffic offenders related to the offense, or for failing to pay child support, noncriminal fines, or vehicle insurance.
''For some of these people, their real crime is being poor,'' said Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican who helped push the legislation. ``They don't belong in prison, where they can't earn money to pay back their fines or support their families.''
About 130 people would stay out of state prison next year if the bill became law, saving the state about $1.3 million next year and $36 million more in the next five years largely because the state wouldn't have to pay the $19,300 to incarcerate them yearly, according to legislative analysts. They estimate the state would save about $25 million more on future prison-construction costs. The measure passed Dockery's criminal justice committee unanimously last month as well as the criminal-justice budget committee Wednesday, along with other measures to establish a panel to review minimum-mandatory sentences and to allow inmates more opportunities to work in the community before their release.
House lawmakers, however, have not considered the proposal. But Dockery said the issue is a priority of Senate leaders and will be part of negotiations during budget discussions before the end of the 60-day lawmaking session May 2.
Underpinning the drive to lessen some penalties on some bad drivers: Dwindling state money and an exploding prison population. As the inmate population has grown 47 percent since 2000, the population of those incarcerated for driving with a suspended license ha grown 133 percent.
Lawmakers blame judges for part of the increase, noting that they're sentencing more people to state prison to spare crowded county jails. About 17 percent of all new state prison commitments are known as ''year-and-a-day'' sentences for all types of offense for which the inmate could have been sentenced to county jails. Any sentence shorter than that can normally be served at a local county jail.
Orlando-area Chief Judge Belvin Perry, the head of the state judge's association, said ''it's possible'' that some judges were intentionally keeping people out of county jails, but said most were just responding to each case individually.
''Some of these people probably have long records,'' Perry asked. ``What do we do with someone who repeatedly violates probation? And if someone commits a felony, there's a good chance they're going to prison.''
