A bill currently moving through Wisconsin’s Legislature would lower the legal drinking age to 19—in a bid the authors said will reduce college binge drinking in a state known for its beer-loving reputation.
The current minimum drinking age in the state is 21. But the bill would only pass if Wisconsin does not lose its federal highway funding. In 1984 a federal law was passed that penalized states with a reduction in federal highway money if they did not have a minimum drinking age of 21.
The authors behind the proposal unveiled on Wednesday, Nov. 8, comes from Republican Reps. Adam Jarchow, Cindi Duchow and Rob Swearingen, who are circulating the bill, CBS affiliate WISC-TV reported. Swearingen is a former president of the Tavern League of Wisconsin, a trade group of alcohol retailers.
Jarchow, the bill’s author, told the network that lowering the age could save “countless hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars” spent enforcing drinking laws among the youth. He also said that they will draft the bill so that it won’t affect federal highway funding.
