DRUNKEN DRIVING MEASURE PASSES

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- When stopping by the local bar after work for a few drinks, you might want to consider having one fewer. If not, under a bill likely to be signed into law you could be legally drunk.

After five years of effort by anti-drunken driving activists, the General Assembly endorsed a stricter drunken driving standard of .08 blood alcohol content Friday. The current standard is .10.

Despite past failures, this year the measure enjoyed overwhelming support. The vote in the House of Representatives was 141-10. In the Senate it passed 30-3. Southeast Missouri's 14 representatives and three senators all voted for the bill.

Enacting the tougher standard is a top item on Gov. Bob Holden's legislative agenda. Assuming that no technical problems are found with the bill, Holden plans to sign it. The new law would take effect Sept. 29.

"It's been a long time coming," said state Sen. Morris Westfall, R-Halfway and the bill's Senate handler.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a 170-pound man reaches .08 after four drinks in one hour. It would take the same man five drinks in an hour to reach .10.

Supporters say the lower threshold will save lives on Missouri roads. Opponents claim that in other states there was no impact on the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities after enacting .08, though DWI arrests went way up.

"This is good public policy," said state Rep. Craig Hosmer, D-Springfield and the House sponsor. "It will be good for public safety."

Federal blackmail'

But passage of the measure was more about federal money than safety. A recent federal law will withhold highway construction dollars from states that refuse to adopt .08. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, the state would lose $8.1 million starting in 2004. By 2008, Missouri would lose $32.4 million.

By enacting .08 this year, the state will receive $3 million in federal incentive funds in each of the next two years.

Opponents who question whether everyone is intoxicated at .08 call the threatened loss of funds federal blackmail.

"I don't like a bill that makes someone guilty at .08 even when they are not intoxicated," said state Sen. John Schneider, D-Florissant. "I don't care how much federal money we are going to get."

Provisions banning open containers of alcohol in the passenger area of vehicles and imposing tougher penalties on persistent offenders failed to make it into the final version of the bill. As a result, $10.4 million in federal funds Missouri receives for road construction will be shifted to driver safety and education programs.

Westfall said some of the same lawmakers who pushed for new taxes for road construction opposed those provisions, costing the state road money.

"I just have a difficult time with people that supported a tax increase but opposed this," Westfall said.

A first conviction for driving at .08 would be a class A misdemeanor and result in a 30-day suspension of driving privileges. A second-time offender would have to serve a mandatory five-day jail sentence or perform 30 days of community service. Current law calls for a minimum two days in jail or 10 days of community service.

Those convicted on drunken driving will also have to pay a $25 fee into a new state fund for spinal cord injury research.

How they votedOn this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to approve the bill and a "no" vote was a vote to reject the bill.

Voting "yes" were 18 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

Voting "no" were three Democrats.

One senator was absent.

REPUBLICANS VOTING YES

Bentley, St. Louis; Cauthorn, Mexico; Childers, Reeds Spring; Foster, Poplar Bluff; Gibbons, Kirkwood; Gross, St. Charles; Klarich, Ballwin; Kenney, Lee's Summit; Kinder, Cape Girardeau; Klindt, Bethany; Loudon, Ballwin; Rohrbach, California; Russell, Lebanon; Sims, Ladue; Singleton, Joplin; Steelman, Rolla; Westfall, Halfway; Yeckel, St. Louis.

DEMOCRATS VOTING YES

Caskey, Butler; DePasco, Kansas City; Dougherty, St. Louis; Goode, St. Louis; House, St. Charles; Jacob, Columbia; Mathewson, Sedalia; Quick, Liberty; Scott, St. Louis; Staples, Eminence; Stoll, Festus; Wiggins, Kansas City.

DEMOCRATS VOTING NO

Bland, Kansas City; Johnson, Agency; Schneider, Florissant.

ABSENT

Carter, D-St. Louis.