From the Capitol
.08 blood alcohol level passes House
Posted: 4/6/04
Rep. Steve Strachan got what he wanted ó sort of.
Strachan, author of .08 blood alcohol content legislation in the House, saw his bill passed by the House on Wednesday, March 31, 113 to 15.
But the effective date of the bill was amended in House committee to 2007. Originally, Strachanís bill, as its companion in the Senate, had a 2004 effective date.
Yet an attempt on the House floor to amend the billís effective date to 2004 failed by a wide margin, 44 to 83.
With the House and Senate bills having different effective dates, the legislation is destined for conference committee.
Gov. Pawlenty supports immediate implementation of .08.
On the House floor, Strachan, R-Farmington, called the adoption of .08 good policy ó the blood alcohol level has been found to be a more accurate predictor of impairment, he said.
This is not the first step down a road to prohibit everything in Minnesota, Strachan, a police sergeant, argued.
It will not cause a ìsea changeî in the number of drunk driving arrests in the state, he said.
ìTheyíre (drunk drivers) not victims. Theyíre breaking the law and .08 is impaired,î said Strachan.
Forty-seven other states, including all the states adjoining Minnesota, have already passed .08, he said.
House opponents criticized the bill for forcing additional costs onto counties without providing for funding.
They also resented the federal governmentís withholding of federal highway dollars unless states adopted .08.
Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker, who led efforts in the House to postpone implementation of .08, said the state will still receive its federal highway funding even if implementation is delayed.
ìWeíll get all of that money in one lump sum,î he said.
Sen. Leo Foley, DFL-Coon Rapids, Senate author of .08 legislation, called the Houseís adoption of a 2007 effective date ìa tragedy.î
Think of the lives to be lost, he said.
How the legislation fairs in conference committee may reflect the degree to which Pawlenty exerts his influence over House Republicans, said Foley.
ìI would hope the governor would change some of the (House) votes,î he said.
Foley was frustrated by the Houseís approach to .08.
If the enactment is pushed out to 2007, does it even matter whether the legislation gets passed this year, he asked.
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