State & Regional Interest	Friday, June 20, 2003
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Sanford signs lower blood-alcohol limit into law (Published June 19‚ 2003) YORK, S.C. (AP) - Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law a bill that lowers the legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers to 0.08 percent, down from 0.10 percent. If the Legislature hadn't passed the bill, the federal government would have withheld about $63 million for road projects during the next four years. "I don't like the federal government dictating terms to states anymore than the next guy, but you don't leave dollars in Washington when people's lives are at stake," Sanford said. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said Sanford had to sign the bill into law for the federal money, but 0.10 percent was sufficient. "Being forced to do this by the federal government is wrong," McConnell said. He is pleased, though, the law includes the Senate's version that allows people to challenge blood-alcohol tests in court. "Alcohol doesn't effect people in the same way," he said. Forty states have the .08 percent limit, the governor's office said.

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