In 2000, President Clinton signed into law a measure that establishes a national 0.08 percent BAC standard for drunken driving. States that fail to comply with the national standard will lose 2 percent of their federal highway grants starting in fiscal year 2004. That penalty increases to 5 percent in fiscal 2005, 6 percent in fiscal 2006, and 8 percent in fiscal 2007. Any state that adopts the new standard by 2007 will be permitted to recover any previously forfeited highway funds.

At the time of the passage of the law, 18 states plus the District of Columbia had already enacted .08 laws. In 2001, thirty states considered legislation to lower the standard with ten states (AK, AZ, AR, GA, IN, LA, MD, MO, NE, OK) voting to adopt the new standard.

South Dakota became the first state of 2002 to enact a law to lower the state’s BAC standard for drunken driving to 0.08. Since then, governors in Wyoming and Mississippi have also signed .08 legislation.

Bills to lower the standard have also been passed by the Connecticut House, the Iowa Senate, and both

States, continued on page 2

On April 11, Colonel Lonnie Westphal, head of the Colorado State Patrol and IACP’s 5^th Vice President, testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. The hearing featured representatives from law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel.

In his statement to lawmakers, Colonel Westphal highlighted the need for improvements in information sharing among federal, state and local law enforcement, and the needs of state and local law enforcement agencies in areas such as anti-terrorism training, communications technology, emergency response equipment, and manpower needs.

In addition, Colonel Westphal also focused on President Bush’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2003 and the IACP’s view of its impact on the ability of state and local law enforcement to play an active role in the war against terrorism. In his statement, he noted that "an enormous degree of responsibility and authority for public security is delegated to local government, particularly to police agencies." In addition to often being the first responders to a terrorist attack, law enforcement officers also play a vital role in the investigation and prevention of future terrorist attacks.

He emphasized that the attacks of September 11 and its aftermath have placed an increased demand on law enforcement agencies. Meeting the increased need for pubic security has stretched many departments’ budgets to their limit, especially due to increased overtime costs.

Colonel Westphal told the committee that as a result of

houses in the New York legislature.

However, Iowa House leaders recently announced that they would decline to take up the issue before the legislature’s adjournment. Similar legislation has also been defeated this session in Colorado.

The Ohio Senate approved a bill (SB 208) to require that drunken-driving tests be used as evidence in arrests, even if officers do not follow all the rules while giving them. The bill follows an August 2000 Supreme Court ruling that said police who do not properly conduct sobriety tests cannot use them as evidence when deciding whether to arrest suspected drunk drivers. The bill requires the test to be used as evidence if it was conducted in "substantial compliance" with national testing standards. Supporters of the bill argue that the court’s decision was a case of hairsplitting that hurts police officers’ ability to do their jobs.

In addition, several states continue to debate bills that would prohibit open containers of alcohol in motor vehicles. A comprehensive transportation bill passed in 1998 provided for financial penalties for states that do not enact laws prohibiting open alcoholic beverage containers in the passenger area of motor vehicles. Failure to enact open container laws results in a transfer of 3 percent of a state’s federal highway construction funds to its highway safety program. Open container laws have been passed in Virginia, Maryland, and the Missouri Senate. The legislation was defeated in Colorado and Mississippi.

On April 18, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation (S. 924) to reauthorize the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. Since the program’s inception in 1994, more than $7 billion in grants have been awarded to law enforcement agencies, enough to hire an estimated 114,000 new officers. The COPS program expired in 2000, although Congress has continued to fund it for the past two fiscal years. Under the legislation, sponsored by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), the program would receive $1.15 billion each year for the next six years.

The bill also provides local law enforcement agencies more flexibility in using COPS funds. The hiring grants in the original COPS program expired after three years. Local law enforcement agencies were expected to keep the newly hired officers on the payroll after that without benefit of the federal grant money. Under the bill, the funding could also be used to help communities retain officers once the three-year grants expire. The money could be used to pay overtime and reimburse law enforcement officers for training costs.

The measure would authorize:

• $600 million annually for police hiring grants, enough to pay for up to 50,000 new officers.
• 350 million annually for police departments to acquire new technology and equipment.
• $200 million annually for grants that would help local district attorneys hire prosecutors trained to work with neighborhoods to prevent crime.

President Bush’s proposed fiscal 2003 budget cuts funding for the COPS program by $533 million, or approximately 48%. The reduction is achieved by eliminating the law enforcement hiring grant program and by significantly reducing the funds available for crime-fighting technology.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle plans to press ahead with floor action next week on a measure similar to a House-passed bill (HR 3525) aimed at enhancing border security. Still unknown, however, is whether changes made to the bill will resolve objections of Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd. The House passed its version of the bill in December. The Senate’s border security bill (S 1749) would have reached the floor weeks ago, but Senator Byrd objects to attempts to pass it by voice vote without debate. He argues the proposal is too sweeping and potentially too expensive to rush through.

The legislation would provide modern technology to immigration control agencies and enable federal officials to more carefully scrutinize visitors through a range of measures. Among other things, it requires federal intelligence, law enforcement, diplomatic and immigration offices to help create a common database of suspected terrorists and other undesirables that would provide up-to-date information to border and immigration officials. The president could designate specific types of law enforcement or intelligence information that the database could not provide to immigration officials. It also requires a study of ways to establish an international suspect database that the U.S. could share with Mexico, Canada, and other countries that do not require a visa to enter the U.S.

Additionally, the legislation requires the INS and Customs Service to hire additional inspectors, all of whom would be classified as law enforcement officers. It also authorizes $150 million each for the INS and the Customs Service for technological security upgrades

The legislation also requires planes and passenger ships from other countries to provide passenger and crew lists before arriving; requires identification documents for non-citizens to contain biometric data such as fingerprints or retina scans; and establish requirements for electronic reporting of the activities of foreign students.

the increased burden placed on state and local law enforcement and the need for new equipment, training, and manpower assistance, the IACP is concerned with the President’s FY 2003 budget. The budget proposes significant reductions in three major state and local law enforcement programs: the Byrne Grant program, the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant, and the COPS program. This year, the programs in total received $2.154 billion. In the proposed budget, these three programs face a reduction in total funding of $753 million, a 35.5% cut from last year.

He expressed the IACP’s concern with the reductions in these vital law enforcement assistance programs, which have played an important role in ensuring that state and local law enforcement agencies are well equipped, well trained and appropriately staffed: "At this crucial time when state and local law enforcement agencies are faced with new responsibilities and challenges, it is the IACP’s belief that the funding levels for these crucial assistance programs should not be reduced."

In addition, Colonel Westphal told the committee that the IACP had several concerns with the proposed First Responder Grant (FRG) program. The FRG program, a $3.5 billion program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is designed to assist state and local government in preparing for terrorist attacks. The funds would be distributed among the states and are intended to assist law enforcement, firefighting, and emergency medical service agencies increase their abilities to respond to terrorist attacks.

Since FEMA has historically been a response agency, the IACP is concerned that the grant program will be more oriented toward responding to terrorist attacks, rather than preventing them. Secondly, the IACP wants to ensure that state and local law enforcement executives play a large role in the development of response plans and needs assessments.

Colonel Westphal concluded that "we have entered a new era for law enforcement; we are faced with new and daunting challenges; we are asking more of our officers and our communities are turning to us for protection. Only with federal assistance funds that are specifically targeted for law enforcement can we hope to successful meet this challenge."

• Transportation Security Administration, Administrator John Magaw: April 17.

• "A License to Break the Law? Protecting the Integrity of Driver’s Licenses": April 16
  Chief Mary Ann Viverette will testify at this hearing on behalf of the IACP.

• Public Health Preparedness for Terrorist Attacks: April 16

• "Leading the Fight: The Violence Against Women Office": April 16

• Terrorist Watch Lists: April 16

• "Should the Office of Homeland Security Have More Power: A Case Study in Information Sharing": April 17

The House Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved legislation sponsored by Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) that would reorganize the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) by splitting it into two divisions: one division handling enforcement and the other focusing on citizenship and immigration services. The bill (H.R. 3231) would abolish the INS and replace it with the Agency for Immigration Affairs. The agency would oversee a Bureau of Immigration Enforcement and a Bureau of Immigration Services and Adjudications. Its director would be an associate attorney general that would be No. 3 at the Justice Department, behind the attorney general and the deputy attorney general.

Each bureau would have its own set of offices to set policy and carry out its distinct mission. In addition, each bureau would have a separate budget.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has been moving forward with its own plan to administratively reorganize the INS and split it into two agencies by 2004. The administration’s plan, unveiled last year by Attorney General John Ashcroft, also would split the INS into service and enforcement bureaus, but keep them under an INS commissioner, much like today. The commissioner would manage all the responsibilities shared by the two branches, such as budgeting.

Last month, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge floated a plan to merge the Customs Service with the Border Patrol and other divisions of the INS under the Justice Department. The Customs Service is now part of the Treasury Department. That reorganization would require legislative action.