Jason's Law has picked up more support in Washington, D.C., and backers are hoping to get it attached to a major transportation bill.
Named for a Schoharie County trucker who was shot and then robbed of $7 at an abandoned gas station in South Carolina, the legislation aims to provide $100 million for improvements to rest areas and the construction of truck-parking facilities throughout the country.
Jason Rivenburg, 35, of Fultonham, was shot to death on the night of March 5 after he pulled into an abandoned South Carolina gas station used by truckers as a place to rest.
Willie Pelzer III, 23, of St. Matthews, S.C., was convicted Friday after a four-day trial. He was sentenced the same day to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Pelzer stalked Rivenburg as he sat in his parked truck talking on his cell phone to another trucker. Pelzer shot at Rivenburg six times with a .45-caliber handgun, striking him in the head twice, and then rifled through his pockets, taking $7. Rivenburg was found dead two days later by a local sheriff's deputy.
The trucker's widow, Hope Rivenburg, attended the trial and has been a primary backer of Jason's Law.
Rivenburg said she felt justice was served "to a certain extent."
"What (Pelzer) got was nothing compared to what he took away from us," Rivenburg said. "He can still see his family. We will never be able to see Jason again."
Before his sentencing, Pelzer said he was sorry for shooting Rivenburg.
"Now we know for sure he was the guy who killed Jason," Rivenburg said.
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, is continuing to build support for H.R. 2156, which would create Jason's Law, Tonko's spokesman Beau Duffy said.
Tonko's district includes Schoharie County.
"It's definitely still being pursued," Duffy said Monday. "We have bipartisan support for this bill."
The most recent congressman to cosponsor is U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who signed on last week, Duffy said.
There are 29 other co-sponsors from both parties and states from coast to coast.
"The hope with the bill is that we can get it attached to the transportation bill," Duffy said.
That bill is designed to fund federal transportation-related initiatives for the next five years.
"Everything has been slowed down a little bit by health care and some of the other larger bills," Duffy said. "We are still working on the bill. We remain hopeful."
There is a companion bill in the Senate sponsored by U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Rivenburg said she is confident Jason's Law will become a reality.
"I truly do believe it will," Rivenburg said. "Congressman Tonko's office is working extremely hard on it."
She said people from his area, as well as from Calhoun County, where her husband was killed, have been tremendously supportive.
Truckers from throughout the country are also behind her cause, and their trade journals and Internet forums indicate their concern stems from the closure of many rest areas nationwide for financial reasons, as well as crime and unsafe conditions at existing rest areas.
"I have gotten a lot of support from, I dare say, every state," Rivenburg said. "Jason's Law is something that is very much needed for the truckers. They are truly concerned. They don't have any way to defend themselves."
Jason Rivenburg is also survived by a son, Josh, who will turn 3 next year, and twins, Logan and Hezekiah, who were born 13 days after Rivenburg died.
