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 - The Missouri House voted Thursday to lower the state's drunken driving threshhold amid a swirling undercurrent of partisan political debate.
Although Democrats vocally supported the bill during debate, and Republicans opposed it, the end result was a mostly bipartisan 136-19 vote to change the standard from .1 percent blood alcohol content to .08.
Now the proposal requires approval from the Senate and Missouri Gov. Bob Holden before it would become law.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Craig Hosmer, D-Springfield, said most Missourians support toughening the standard from .10.
"That's too high of a standard," Hosmer said. "At .08, most motor functions are impaired."
The yeas and nays were divided almost equally between Republicans and Democrats, with four lawmakers absent.
However, .08 has become an issue for partisan political finger-pointing.
Rep. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, said he suspects the .08 bill was more about political plotting by the Democrats than saving lives.
"It's not about .08, it's about politics," Greisheimer said.
Greisheimer said the Democrats were using .08 as a "political tool" to make the Republican Senate look bad. He said the Democrats knew the .08 bill will not pass Senate.
Greisheimer said he expected the Senate to amend the bill, in effect killing .08 for the third straight year.
"The political plan is to make the Republican-controlled Senate look bad by sending them a bill they do not like," Greisheimer said in a written statement. "If the Senate amends it in any way, the Democratic-controlled House will refuse to accept the amendments, and the bill dies, and the Republicans get blamed for it.
"In my opinion, what really stinks is that the true supporters of .08 like MADD and SADD are being used as pawns for political gain by the Democratic Party."
A leading House Democrat, Rep. Don Koller of Summersville, agreed with Greisheimer. Koller, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said the bill was not likely to pass the Senate.
Koller has previously opposed .08, but he voted for it Thursday.
The Democrats were coming together, some changing their vote like Koller, for political reasons, Greisheimer said.
"They're going to unite on this in an effort to make the Republican Senate look bad," Greisheimer said.
The governor has also played a role in this debate. During Tuesday's debate in the House, Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, made an unexpected appearance. Greisheimer said Holden was watching on as a cheerleader for the Democrats.
Holden's spokesman, Jerry Nachtigal, denied Greisheimer's claim but said passing .08 was one of the governor's priorities for this year.
Also, not all Republicans agreed with Greisheimer's theory. Sen. David Klarich, R-Clayton, said the scenario is unlikely.
"It's ridiculous," Klarich said. "It's political diatribe."
On the other side, the state Democratic Party had criticism for Republicans. Earlier this week, the party attacked Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, president pro tem of the Republican-controlled Senate, for his handling of .08.
"This bill is a no-brainer," B.J. Atwater, executive director of the Missouri Democratic Party, said in a written statement. "It is not controversial and it will save lives. Yet Sen. Kinder calls supporters of this bill `neo-prohibitionists.'"
Kinder said Tuesday the .08 issue has become a political issue.
"After today's session, yes, it has become politics," Kinder said, referring to Tuesday's first-round approval of .08 in the House.