The drinking age may be reduced to 19 for Wisconsin
residents active in military service if planned legislation makes it through
the state Capitol next session.

Rep. Terry Musser, R-Black River Falls, plans on introducing
the bill. It would allow military personal aged 19 and above to purchase
alcohol at bars and restaurants, but not liquor stores.

“We’re in the middle of a war,” Musser said.
“And if our 19- and 20-year-olds are good enough to be deployed overseas,
they ought to be good enough and old enough to go into a bar without being
accompanied by mommy and daddy.”

But if Musser’s plan is adopted, he acknowledges it could
cause Wisconsin to lose millions in highway funds.

The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 mandates that
all states set their drinking age at 21. Those that don’t are subject to lose
10 percent of federal highway funding.

Musser said he wants to lower the age to 19 for everybody
and wants to challenge Washington and stop the “federal blackmail.”

“What I want to do is to force the federal government
to take action to penalize us if we lower the drinking age for people in the
military,” Musser said.

“I know one thing: Unless a state or some states push
the issue, the federal government is going to take a walk on this,” he
continued.

Proponents of changing the drinking age to 19 also include
Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, who believes it is a matter of “public
safety.”

“It would probably make legal what’s going on illegally
now,” Black said. “This may shock you, but there are students under
21 who are consuming alcohol.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving argues that lowering the
drinking age, for military personnel or in general, would increase drunken
driving accidents.

“The Department of Defense supported raising the
drinking age to 21 in 1984,” wrote MADD spokesperson Kelly Twey in an
e-mail. “MADD remains committed to eliminating drunk driving, protecting
our youth and our military, and making our roadways safer.”

Some believe the bill is unfair because it includes only
military personnel.

University of Wisconsin lecturer Merrilee Pickett, who
teaches a substance abuse certificate program, said she believes the concept
that somebody who can “carry guns and bombs and risk life and limb should
have a beer” is too emotional.

“For the non-college crowd, kids who go into other
occupations, like working a construction job, you could argue that they should
have a beer too,” Pickett said.

Lt. Col. Tim Donovan, spokesperson for the Wisconsin
Department of Military Affairs, said his department would need to see a draft
of the bill before taking a position.

“This idea has been floated around before at least a
session or so ago, and it was an opinion we didn’t support then,” said
Donovan, referring to a similar 2005 bill that failed to make it through the
Legislature.

Wisconsin is not the only state looking to alter the
drinking age. At least a half-dozen others have considered it, including
Minnesota.

A bill introduced in St. Paul this February would allow
people ages 18 to 20 to purchase alcohol at bars and restaurants, but not
liquor stores.

And in Vermont, the Legislature attempted to create a task
force that would make a recommendation on changing the drinking age.

“It was purely a study, to look at the research around
underage binge drinking,” said Vermont Sen. Hinda Miller, D-Burlington.
“Is it more when you’re young, or is it the same as you age? We’d also
look at the possibility of education projects.”

Black also said he supports education programs that teach
the dangers of consuming too much alcohol.

— Beth Mueller contributed to this report.