The Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing Wednesday and reviewed citizen testimonies seeking to change Wisconsin's sexual assault laws by making alcohol an intoxicant in rape cases.

Authored by Sen. Cathy Stepp, R-Sturtevant, Senate Bill 526 would add alcoholic beverages to the list of incapacitating substances already recognized for their impairing effects.

"This bill is terrifically important for one reason," Ald. Austin King, District 8, said. "We have this loophole that allows the most popular and widely-used intoxicant to not count as an intoxicant in sexual assault cases."

Under current state statutes, it is illegal to have sex with an individual who is under the influence of a drug and therefore unable to consent to intercourse.

If passed, sex with a person intoxicated enough to not clearly consent would qualify as a second-degree sexual assault charge.

"There's no logical reason that a sexual assault occurring when the victim is too drunk to consent is less serious in Wisconsin than when it occurs when the victim is too high to consent," Stepp said.

Questions were raised, however, when Committee member Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, considered the ambiguous meaning of consent.

According to SB 526 supporter Michael Murray, who is also a policy specialist of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Abuse, consent would not be measured by strict standards, but by whether victims are able to appraise their own conduct.

Although the bill's lack of clear guidelines has caused concern, SB 526 ultimately received broad, bipartisan support among constituents and lawmakers alike.

As no one registered to speak against the bill at the public hearing, SB 526 supporters dominated the committee meeting and praised the measure as a positive step toward repairing deficient sexual assault laws.

University of Wisconsin student and District 5 Dane County Board candidate Ashok Kumar attended the hearing in support of the legislation.

"I see it in my fraternity where there are certain drinks people give to women and certain drinks they give to men and that's just not acceptable," Kumar said. "It's almost become acceptable to do that because you know as long as it's alcohol and not some other pharmacy drug then that's totally fine."

According to a Harvard study, one in 20 college-aged women is raped every year and 72 percent of those women are raped while they are too intoxicated to give consent.

Bill supporters say most women currently are not able to see their offenders prosecuted because of the unfair alcohol-exemption technicality.

The UW Police Department also voiced support for the bill, which would help address the confusion in cases of intoxicated rape victims.

"If someone was incapacitated, [the bill] would remove the need to determine what substance created that incapacitation or that inability to consent," UW Police Department Lt. Eric Holen said. "It certainly, to me, makes it a little easier [for law enforcement officials]."

Wisconsin is the only state that does not identify alcohol as an intoxicant in sexual assaults.

"It [is] almost embarrassing," Committee Chairman and Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, said of Wisconsin's lone status.

The bill has been "fast-tracked," and will seek immediate approval by the Committee, Assembly and Senate.