A bill approved Wednesday by the S.C. House would lower the legal blood-alcohol limit for drunken driving convictions from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent.

Supporters say it will help reduce alcohol-related deaths on state roads. It was approved by the House on a 106-6 vote.

Another provision would require an immediate 30-day driver's license suspension for anyone behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater. Current law allows licenses to be revoked at 0.15 percent.

The bill allows police to set up roadblocks to look for drunken drivers. It also makes it easier to prosecute DUI cases. Under state law, a prosecutor must prove a driver is impaired even if his blood-alcohol level is above the legal limit. The new law would allow a jury to convict someone of DUI exclusively on blood-alcohol levels.

The bill also stipulates that people who have had prior DUI convictions during the past 10 years will have their licenses suspended for 60 days if a test shows an alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or greater.

Although the legislation has the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, several lawmakers spoke out against it, angry that the federal government has threatened to take away highway money from states that don't pass the lower levels.

South Carolina has already lost $1.8 million in incentives and could lose $60 million more unless it lowers the limit to 0.08 percent.

The state shouldn't act just because the federal government is twisting arms, said state Rep. Grady Brown, D-Lee.

"I am ready to tell the government to take it and shove it," Brown said.

After a routine third reading, the bill heads to the Senate, where lawmakers have been debating a vastly different version of the bill that critics say is much weaker.

Senate Committee Sets Pact Date Limits

The Senate Education Committee voted Wednesday to require Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests to be given no earlier than the second full week in May.

The directive becomes part of a bill that creates academic calendar guidelines for South Carolina's 85 school districts. It requires three makeup days be included in anticipation of inclement weather closings and allows for extension of the school day or holding Saturday classes to make up lost time.

State Sen. Luke Rankin, D-Horry, said formalizing when PACT should be given would encourage schools to begin the academic year closer to Labor Day. Some school systems reopen in early August to maximize instruction time before students in grades three through eight take PACTs.

This year, the first standardized tests will be given May 5.

State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum said several weeks ago she would push back the testing dates. Rankin said it is important to put that in a proposed law. A Department of Education spokeswoman said Tenenbaum supports Rankin's amendment.

Committee OKs bill on background checks

The Senate Education Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would require colleges and universities with education programs to instruct students that a criminal background could keep them from being certified.

State Sen. John Matthews, D-Orangeburg, said the bill ensures "people don't waste four years before they find out that they can't get a certificate or license to teach."

Students must complete 35 credit hours before they are admitted into the school of education, said Janice Poda, senior director for teacher quality for the state Department of Education. The bill would require that the school inform the students of the background check before they reach that point.

"One incident in a person's life may not be enough to prevent them from ever teaching," Poda said.

However, violent crimes, sex offenses and drug abuse would prevent a student from becoming certified, she said.

House asks 'Chicks' to perform for troops

S.C. House members say the Dixie Chicks can apologize for criticizing President Bush by performing a free concert for troops.

State Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, introduced a resolution Wednesday calling for the country music group to perform for South Carolina troops and their families.

The Dixie Chicks are scheduled to perform the first concert of their U.S. tour in Greenville this May.

Lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience last week, in reference to President Bush's push for military action against Iraq, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas." Maines is a Texas native.

Radio stations nationwide are boycotting the Dixie Chicks, even though Maines publicly apologized for her statement in London. A phone message left with the Dixie Chicks' publicist Wednesday was not immediately returned.

A free concert for troops would be a good way for Maines to show she's sorry and could address concerns of people who say they don't want the group to perform in South Carolina at all, Ceips said.

"It's an olive branch to the Dixie Chicks," she said.

"But only after they apologize first for exercising their free speech, is that correct?" asked House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Richland.

The measure passed the House on a 50-35 vote.