The Tennessee law that lets passengers in a moving vehicle drink alcohol might finally be on the way out.
Gov. Bill Haslam has thrown his weight behind repealing the so-called “pass-the-bottle” rule, and that’s leading the loophole’s longtime opponents to believe this might be their year.
“We’ve been talking about how much we’re losing as a state,” says state Sen. Jon Lundberg. “We can’t fix bridges and build roads, and I think frankly the governor adding his name highlights it.”
Lundberg, R-Bristol, has tried five times to extend the state’s ban on open containers to include passengers. Each time, it has failed. Conventional wisdom is that tailgaters would like to have a nip to or from the game.
Lundberg says that’s not just bad policy. It’s been costing the state money.
The federal government penalizes states that don’t have across-the-board open container bans by withholding some funding. The Haslam administration puts those loses at $18 million a year.
“This is a big chunk of money,” Lundberg says. “(When) people talk about raising the gas tax, they want to know you are squeezing every other drop of money that we’ve got to take care of this, right?”
With the governor pushing for more money for roads, he’s made getting rid of the pass-the-bottle loophole one of his priorities for the year. That’s served to elevate the issue.
But Haslam’s road-funding plan is controversial. So even this year, there’s no guarantee a tougher open container law will pass.
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