(WIVT/WBGH) – Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo announced that a STOP-DWI legislation that she has been working on for over a decade was just signed into law by the governor.

The STOP-DWI program was created in 1981 to provide counties with resources to reduce DWI’s.

In recent years, local programs have not received the financial support to keep up with the demand for more services.

The legislation signed by governor Hochul now redirects two surcharges associated with impaired driving offenses directly to county programs, instead of going to the state’s general fund.

Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar says that the new bill will shore up funds needed for efforts such as checkpoints, increased patrols, and overtime for local police.

Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar says, “This change means 80,000 more dollars for Broome County. That is significant. When you’re talking about law enforcement having the ability to go out and proactively address these issues of drunk driving and drugged driving, having the resources to do that is significantly important.”

The funds will also support rehabilitation programs and public awareness campaigns.

Akshar says that in recent years, there has been an increase of drugged driving incidents.

Highway fatalities in New York have increased by 17% since 2018, and drug related highway fatalities have increased 54% since 2014.