MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - As Gov. Bob Holden looked on, Missouri took another step yesterday toward becoming the 20th state since 1983 to lower its threshhold for drunken driving.
A House bill that would lower the state's legal blood alcohol content level from .10 percent to .08 percent survived an initial round of House debate, weathering nearly two hours of resistance from Republicans who opposed the bill.
The governor's presence in the House, which is unusual for debate sessions, might signal the importance of .08 to his administration.
The Republican-sponsored amendments, which attempted to change the meaning of the bill, failed.
The .08 bill must now gain one last approval from two-thirds of the House in order to advance to the Republican-controlled Senate. Currently, there is a similar .08 bill languishing in the Senate.
Lowering the limit would affect every driver on Missouri highways, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saying .08 would reduce alcohol-related fatalities by eight percent and save an estimated $2 per licensed driver.
But not all state legislators say they agree with such statistics.
"I don't believe there is enough evidence that .08 saves lives," Rep. Patrick Naeger, R-Perryville, told the House. "This is a strong-arm attempt by the federal government to blackmail us into their way of thinking."
Naeger was referring to the 1999 federal mandate that required all states to lower their BAC legal limit to .08. The 19 states that have imposed a .08 law have received millions of incentive dollars for transportation funding.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Craig Hosmer, D-Springfield, asserted several times that the .08 bill was not an empty attempt to assuage federal policymakers.
"There is significant impairment at .08," Hosmer said. "I know there are lobby groups that oppose .08, but they are motivated by profit."
Anheuser-Busch, which has said .08 is "a step in the wrong direction," and the Missouri Beer Wholesalers Association contributed more than $75,000 to both Republican and Democratic House and Senate candidates for the 2000 campaign.
Republicans have supported efforts, more than their Democratic counterparts, to suspend the passage of .08 so far this legislative session, and they received more contributions than Democrats.
But, the $75,000 amount was negligible. Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, raised nearly $250,000 for his 2000 campaign.
Also, the accusation of liquor lobbyists' money unfairly swaying votes provoked anger from Rep. John Greisheimer, R-Washington, who sponsored one of the two amendments that failed.
"I really get bristled," Greisheimer said in an interview after the session. "If $1,000 will buy my vote, that's horrible."
Both Republican-sponsored amendments added extra baggage to the simple .08 bill and could have jeopardized its passage.
The first amendment, sponsored by Greisheimer, failed by a voice vote. The amendment proposed the same two-year delay of .08's imposition that was proposed last week in the Senate by President Pro Tem Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau.
"I don't like federal mandates," Greisheimer said in defense of his bill.
Nevertheless, Hosmer attacked the liquor industry in the debate about Greisheimer's amendment.
"They want this amendment because they think it will hurt their business. They are putting profits ahead of public safety. They are putting profits ahead of public policy."
The second amendment, sponsored by Rep. Don Lograsso, R-Blue Springs, failed 89-50. It would have lowered the legal BAC limit from .10 to .05.
"Everyone's in agreement that impairment begins at .08." Lograsso said. "Either we're going to fight a war or not. Let's not just feel good about it and play to the press."
Opponents of the proposal said Lograsso's amendment was an obvious attempt to kill the .08 bill because .05 would be an unrealistic, unprecedented legal BAC level in the United States.
"No group supports this," Hosmer said. "This is an example of subterfuge. I applaud the gentleman for his ingenuity."