TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Senate's budget panel is expected to consider a statewide texting-while-driving ban that has eluded passage for several years.

The Budget Committee on Tuesday will take up the bill (SB 416) that already has been cleared by three Senate committees with a total of two votes cast against it.

But the House version (HB 299) hasn't moved because leaders there liken it to needless government intrusion into people's lives.
The proposed law would outlaw texting by all drivers operating motor vehicles. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia already have bans.