Governor Bill Haslam Calls Special Legislative Session to Save $60M in Federal Highway Funds

NASHVILLE, TN — Gov. Bill Haslam announced Friday afternoon he will be calling the Tennessee General Assembly into special session to prevent the loss of $60 million in federal highway funding.

The money is under threat because the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says a change made to Tennessee law last year puts the state of compliance with federal "zero tolerance" standards for drunk driving. Previously, drivers under the age of 21 with a blood-alcohol content of 0.02 or higher could be charged for DUI. The change kept that standard for drivers between 16 and 18 but raised the BAC for 18- to 20-year-olds to 0.08. Supporters of the change said it was an effort to stiffen DUI penalties.

The NHTSA said, however, that the state would be penalized 8 percent of its federal road funding for not maintaining the old standard.

Haslam, lawmakers and the state's attorney-general said Tennessee had other laws on the books that essentially met the federal standard, but the feds held their ground.

Haslam Adminstration officials tried to broker a compromise by which the state promised to change the law when the legislature returned for its scheduled session in January. Despite urging from all 11 members of Tennessee's congressional delegation, the NHTSA would not back down and Haslam was forced to acquiesce and call the legislature back.

“We are disappointed in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s decision. The state made clear to federal officials that while it disagrees with the interpretation that Tennessee is out of compliance, any such perceived impact of the law was inadvertent and could be fixed in January 2017,” Haslam said in a statement. “To avoid any negative impact to the state, I will ask the General Assembly to convene in a special session and clarify state law in this matter.”

Some of Tennessee's drunk-driving laws — particularly, the so-called "pass the bottle law," which allows passengers to have open containers of alcohol in a car — are already out of compliance with federal standards, meaning the state is already taking less than it should in transportation funding.

Haslam said he will issue the proclamation recalling the legislature in the coming days, with the special session set for later this month.

Image via the United States Department of Agriculture