State May Set Up Dui Fund Money Would Be Used To Help Local Governments Enforce New Laws
Prospects for legislative passage of tough new controls on drunken driving improved Tuesday as lawmakers signaled they would help local governments pay the cost of enforcing them.
Senate leaders, who continued to insist that their fat package of proposed new laws would not burden local government coffers, nevertheless said they were willing to set aside millions of dollars should they be needed. Aides to Gov. Gary Locke said he, too, wanted to provide money to pay costs to local government.
Unlike the Senate, the House fully intends to take a careful look at potential costs to local governments before approving the package. The eight Senate proposals range from harsher penalties to allowance for police to seize and sell vehicles even before the driver is convicted. The package also would lower the allowed blood-alcohol level of drivers to .08 percent, down from .10 percent, and requires judges to force drunken drivers to install breath-testing devices in their cars that would keep the cars from starting if the drivers were drunk.
The Washington Association of Counties has complained that the package could further burden local police, jails, prosecutors and courts.
The House will explore both content and costs of the Senate bills, House Law and Justice Chairman Larry Sheahan, R-Rosalia, said before his panel heard testimony on the measures.
He said he expected some of the measures “to be reworked a little bit” before being sent to the House Appropriations Committee. The appropriations panel won’t approve the measures without money to pay for them, he added.
Costs aside, some colleagues are wary of certain proposals, Sheahan said, including the one giving police the right to seize vehicles and sell vehicles before conviction.
“We’ll have to rework some of the bills to get the votes we need” to get them out of committee, he said.
But a big roadblock to the whole package appears to be fading - concern that lawmakers were about to pass legislation local governments couldn’t afford to enforce.
Senate leaders called a news conference early Tuesday to introduce Karolyn Nunnallee, the national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and also to announce that they were willing to put money into reserve, perhaps $4million next year, in case it was needed by local governments.
Nunnallee urged lawmakers to approve the legislation, especially the measure lowering the allowed blood-alcohol level. She said the lower limit has been shown to have saved lives in states where it was adopted.
Senate Law and Justice Chairwoman Pam Roach, R-Auburn, said she and many of her colleagues still don’t believe the package will cost money.
She said the contention is being generated by the Washington Restaurant Association, which she said opposes the provision to lower the blood-alcohol level to .08 percent.
Kit Hawkins, the association’s lobbyist, said Roach was incorrect. He said local governments, not his group, are concerned about the cost. As for the legislation itself, his group has concerns about the blood-alcohol measure. He said backers have failed to prove that the lower level makes any difference in terms of enforcement.
Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, said Hawkins and others who question the proposal are failing to understand its real usefulness. The measure is not aimed at nailing drivers with blood-alcohol level of .08 percent, but rather to solidify cases in which drivers “blow a .10, or .11, or .12,” he said. Currently these drivers challenge the test results because they are so close to the limit. If the limit is lowered, these drivers are more likely to accept guilt and avoid trial, he said.
Kline added that in admitting guilt, the drivers also would save the state the expense of trials. “We think this proposal is one that would actually save the state money” while ensuring that drunken drivers are brought to justice, he said. xxxx The DUI bills Lawmakers are considering eight proposals to crack down on drunken driving. Among them: Harsher jail and financial penalties. Allowing for police to seize and sell vehicles before the driver is convicted. Lowering the allowed blood-alcohol level to .08 percent, from 0.10 percent. Requiring judges to force drunken drivers to install breath-testing devices in their cars that would keep the cars from starting if the drivers were drunk.