Committee hears hours of testimony on bill to lower Washington's DUI per-se limit to 0.05

The Washington State Senate Transportation Committee held a public hearing on Substitute Senate Bill 5067, a proposal to lower the state's per-se blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving from 0.08 to 0.05 and to require the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to run a public information campaign and the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to evaluate effects during the first three years of implementation.

The bill drew lengthy testimony from crash survivors and victims' families, law enforcement and safety groups in support, and from hospitality and alcohol-industry representatives opposing the change. Committee staff described the bill and its fiscal notes at the start of the hearing.

Committee staff Joe McKittrick and Brian Moore summarized the measure and the fiscal notes. Moore said the Traffic Safety Commission estimated a $200,000 state cost for the public information campaign and identified about $1.2 million in federal grant-supported information activities. The Washington State Patrol's one-time equipment costs were estimated at $122,000 and the Department of Licensing at $6,000. The Institute for Public Policy evaluation was estimated at $36,000 in the 2025-27 biennium and $118,000 in 2027-29; local government fiscal impacts on law enforcement, jails and courts were described as indeterminate, with a local law enforcement training cost estimate of $336,000 one time.

Suppo…