Caledonia Argus

House bill would delay .08 implementation until 2007

Posted: 2/24/04

by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

While the DFL Senate passed .08 standard legislation that would go into effect next August, some House Republicans look to 2007 as a better date.

Rep. Larry Howes, R-Walker, is carrying a bill that would delay implementing .08 for three years.

ìMy goal is to strike a balance between those who desire stiff penalties at the .08 level, and those who fear negative impact on local law enforcement and prosecuting agencies,î said Howes, speaking in December.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum backs the delay, though in doing so goes against the desires of Gov. Pawlenty who wants .08 in place next summer.

Sviggumís support drew fire from House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, who charged Sviggumís willingness to delay showed he was closer to the liquor industry than the average Minnesotan.

Entenza acknowledged the $66 million in federal transportation funding withheld by the delay can be retrieved in 2007, the state is already short of highway dollars, he argued.

The Speaker is the one state leader slowing things down, charged Entenza.

Sviggum countered by arguing that .08 constituted and unfunded mandate ó no funding was included in the Senate .08 legislation to assist local government with enforcement, he noted.

ìThis one (.08 legislation) will rise or fall on its own merit,î said Sviggum, downplaying the influence his support for the delay would exert over the caucus.

ìI have one vote out of 201,î he said.

Sviggum questions assertions by .08 proponents that a delay would cost lives.

ìI donít think that argument is necessarily true,î said Sviggum.

ìIím not necessarily sure itís a situation where you can say, ëYouíre going to save X number of lives,íî he said.

Rep. Duke Powell, R-Burnsville, a member of the House judiciary policy and finance committee, said he expects to the House to pass a version of the .08 bill.

Itís unlikely the House will simply reject .08, he explained.

ìI think a lot of folks have just gotten worn down by this issue,î said Powell, saying House members may view .08 as inevitable.

Powell senses growing support in the House for delaying enforcement of .08 for three years, he said.

Personally, thatís his approach, he said.

Powell also questions whether adopting .08 will actually save lives.

But the federal government is ìholding a gun at our headsî with the highway funding sanctions, he said.

Rep. Steve Strachan, Farmingtom-R, House .08 bill author, doesnít see a three-year delay a forgone conclusion in the House.

ìI wouldnít agree thatís an inevitability,î said Strachan, who wants .08 implemented this August.

Even with the possibility of delay, Strachan views the House .08 debate as positive.

Lawmakers are no longer talking about whether to implement it, but when, he said.

Counties are pushing the idea that .08 constitutes an unfunded mandate, said Strachan, but they have flexibility in how they handle enforcement, he noted.

ìI donít think youíll see (with .08) any significant increase in the number of arrests,î said Strachan, a police officer.

Statistics from other states fail to bear this out, he said.

Top of Page