Harrisburg, Pa. - Texting while driving in Harrisburg could have landed a repeat offender in jail. City Council has been trying to pass a new ordinance but decided Tuesday night that the penalties are too harsh.

Council plans to vote on a revised version next month. Jail time is off the table and the maximum fine is now $1,000.

State lawmakers are also considering anti-texting legislation. Whatever they pass will likely nullify the city ordinance and the state may even penalize communities who pass their own laws.

"I think it's a little ridiculous to penalize a community or a municipality for trying to protect people," said councilwoman Gloria Martin-Roberts.

Martin-Roberts wants to protect people like Michael Amissah and Kristin Bowser, who were victims of a deadly car crash on Harrisburg's Market Street Bridge last month. Police said the driver who hit Amissah's taxi cab was texting behind the wheel.

But the city's attempt to make texting while driving illegal could be challenged. "There would be an appeal in a court of law and it may get struck down in a district justice's office," said Eric Bugaile, executive director of the House Transportation Committee.

Bugaile said a similar law was struck down in Bucks County. He said municipalities can not pass local ordinances on texting while driving because it's addressed in the state vehicle code. Any changes, he said, need to be made at the state Capitol.

"There's already laws on the books regarding careless driving. So if someone is driving down the road swerving because they're texting, an officer can stop them right now and give them a pretty harsh fine," Bugaile said.

There's also pending legislation that would allow the state to withhold road and bridge repair funding should a municipality approve and enforce its own law.

Harrisburg plans to move ahead with its version. A vote is expected next month. "It is enforceable and it will be enforced," Martin-Roberts said.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are still debating several bills on the issue. "If they pass a state law, I'm prayerful that the state law wouldn't be any less than what we put in our legislation," Martin-Roberts said.

What the city wants is a ban on texting or talking on a handheld phone or using PDAs or laptops while driving. Talking on the phone while using an earpiece would be legal.

Some on the state level maintain, however, that if a driver is caught and challenges the city ordinance, they'll win.

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