It never ceases to amaze me the laws that the Tennessee Legislature passes. I go to some committee meetings during the session. I have seen what goes on first hand. Most of the lawmakers are level headed. A law that was passed last session may now cost the citizens of Tennessee $60 million dollars in federal road funding. 60 million that won’t be used for fixing our roads or providing jobs.
Here is what happened. In their never ending battle to tinker with the criminal laws of Tennessee, DWI for drivers under 21 was eliminated. Anyone 18 or over can now be charged with DUI. The big difference in the under 21 DWI set the blood alcohol limit at .02. For a DUI, the blood alcohol limit is .08. The federal law sets the limit for those under 21 at.02 blood alcohol concentration. If Tennessee does not comply with the federal law on blood alcohol limits, Tennessee forfeits federal road money. We already lose money because the Legislature will not outlaw the open container laws.
Maybe the Tennessee state Legislature needs to spend some time fact checking before they change the DUI laws.
In an effort to fix the problem, Governor Halsam has called for a special session of the legislature to fix the problem. Who is going to pick up the tab for the special session ? The taxpayers.