MODOT warns of lost funds

State transportation officials are planning a full-court press on this year’s general assembly. The focus is on three bills that would crack down on drinking and driving. They include lowering the drunk driving blood-alcohol level to .08, and increasing punishments for open container laws and repeat drunk driving offenders. Lobbyist for the department of transportation Jay Wunderlich says Missouri lost $12 million dollars in federal funding for highway construction when it failed to pass the laws last year. The money was instead diverted to the division of highway safety. Wunderlich says the feds are threatening to re-route $14 million dollars if next year’s general assembly doesn’t pass the bills.