Lower DUI limit clears major hurdle

Friday, May 23, 2003 | 11:28 a.m.

SUN CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY -- On the seventh try, a measure to reduce Nevada's blood-alcohol-content to 0.08, cleared its biggest hurdle this morning: the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Assembly Bill 7, sponsored by Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, was numbered seven for luck, and it appears the measure will be on its way to becoming law.

Nevada's current law sets the DUI blood-alcohol level at 0.10, but the state risked losing $28.4 million in federal funds if it did not change the level by October.

The Ways and Means Committee has proven the death knell for the legislation in six preceding sessions. The committee was not enthusiastic about passing it this year.

"I hate this," Committee Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, said of the bill.

"I'm tired of being held hostage by the federal government," Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said, adding the requirement was a "total invasiveness of the rights of states."

She offered an amendment, approved by the committee, that the Nevada law would automatically expire if the federal government ever repealed its mandate.

The gaming industry had for years opposed the measure. Gaming now supports the standard.

AB7 went to the Assembly floor today, where it was expected to pass. If approved and signed by the governor, the 0.08 standard would take effect Sept. 30.