Wisconsin could lose up to $126.8 million in federal funding by 2008 if state lawmakers don’t change the legal standard for drunk driving.
Under a federal bill passed in October 2000, the federal government set a September 2003 deadline for states to reduce the legal blood-alcohol limits from .1 to .08. If the change is not made, Wisconsin will lose federal highway funding.
If a state does not make the change, it will lose 2 percent of federal funding in 2004. The penalty will increase 2 percent each subsequent year. It is then capped at 8 percent in 2008.
A study done by the Department of Transportation found Wisconsin would lose up to $142 million and an additional $15 million in incentive funds in the next five years if the law isn’t changed.
Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman, Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greenfield, said the loss of funding would be significant for the state, whose annual transportation budget is approximately $300-400 million.
Stone said he has been active in creating drunk driving laws but that he does not support lowering the standard for first time offenders.
“The information we have shows we have a hard-core group of drunk drivers who do it repeatedly and are highly intoxicated,” Stone said. “An offender who is at .15 will be fined two times that amount.”
Stone said the fines for a blood alcohol level of .20 are three times that of someone who is at .08.
“We want to focus on these people who are repeat offenders,” Stone. “These are the people who are having the biggest impact on safety.”
Stone said there is research indicating Wisconsin is successful at fighting drunk driving without raising the legal BAC level.
Jim Condelles, public affairs spokesman for the DOT, said convictions for drunk driving are not necessarily repeat offenders and 79.9 percent of operating while intoxicated convictions are first time offenders.
Nina Emerson, director of the Resource Center on Impaired Driving at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said the number of drinks consumed affects the BAC of different people in different ways.
“It depends of how much you weigh and how much you eat, and whether or not you are a man or woman,” Emerson said. “For a 140 pound woman, a couple glasses of wine with dinner would likely be fine but it is not an exact science.”
A 160-pound male can have four drinks in one hour and be at the BAC of .08. At five drinks in an hour, the BAC would be .10.
Consuming four or five drinks in one sitting is considered binge drinking.
Madison Mayor Sue Bauman criticized what she called state lawmakers’ negligence in protecting highway funds.
“Anytime we lose state funds, we have to look at why,” Bauman said. “In a state that is crying for money, it seems foolish to lose it. Lowering the legal limit is designed to increase the safety of the community,” she said.
