Wis. gov signs tougher drunken driving law

Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill Tuesday that stiffens Wisconsin's drunken driving laws, despite questions about the cost and whether it does too little.

Beginning July 1, a fourth offense drunken driving will be a felony if it occurs within five years of the previous offense. A first offense will be a misdemeanor if someone younger than 16 is in the car. Repeat offenders and first-timers with high blood alcohol contents must get ignition interlocks.

But two of the toughest changes advocates wanted weren't included: making all first offenses a crime and legalizing roadside sobriety checkpoints.

Still, dozens of supporters crowded Doyle's state Capitol conference room to watch the governor sign the bill.

Cathy Kehm of Glenbeulah held a framed photograph of her 16-year-old daughter, Nicole, killed July 1, 2008, by a drunken driver as she walked away from a party. Rosanne Belair of Whitewater held a photo of her 18-year-old daughter, Renee, killed June 10, 1993, by a drunken driver as she walked with a friend.

"As a practical matter, we are in greater danger from somebody coming down the road ... that is intoxicated than we are with somebody breaking into our home and burglarizing us," Doyle said.

Drinking is hard-wired into Wisconsin's culture, giving rise to a gigantic drunken driving problem.

About 41 percent of Wisconsin's traffic deaths in 2008 were alcohol-related, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The national average was 37 percent. Last year, 208 people died in Wisconsin in crashes involving a driver with a blood-alcohol content of at least .08.

The Legislature has worked for months to toughen penalties, struggling to find a way to pay for prosecuting, housing and treating the new criminals they would create.

The bill Doyle signed increases surcharges on all criminal convictions from $20 to $163. It also increases fees drunken drivers must pay to reinstate their drivers' licenses from $60 to $200. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates those moves should generate $12.2 million a year for the state's general fund.

But that could fall far short of how much the changes will cost.

The fiscal bureau found the Department of Corrections may spend anywhere from $47 million to $82 million a year to house, treat and supervise the new offenders on probation.

The state Justice Department, meanwhile, estimates it needs an additional $1.7 million or so a year to handle as many as 700 additional felony appeals annually and process additional blood tests.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said he couldn't support the legislation unless it guaranteed his agency the money. If he doesn't get it, he may have to pull money from discretionary agency programs such as drug enforcement, he said.

"My biggest complaint is ... how do you expect me to do this?" Van Hollen said. "The problem is they don't give me that out. It isn't, 'gee, can you do it?' They pass a law which basically says I have to do it."

The law also doesn't lay out extra money for local prosecutors. Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard said prosecutors already are short-staffed and won't be able to devote as much time as they should to extra drunken driving cases.

Whether the surcharges bring in real dollars remains to be seen as well. People might not have the money to pay them as the recession drags on.

The bill allows agencies to request additional money from the Legislature, but those prospects are uncertain, too. Wisconsin faced a record-high $6.6 billion deficit in its last state budget.

Doyle said he's never seen so much hand-wringing about the cost of a bill. The changes may deter more people from drinking and driving, reducing costs, he said.

But even some supporters say the measure doesn't go far enough. Kehm said lawmakers must criminalize all first offenses.

"A stern message needs to be sent," she said.