mondcy, february 4, 1900
daily ncbrccken
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enators see no obstacles for LB221
By Gordon Johnson
In these so-called bad and uncertain times, one thing
seems certain: passage of LB221. Whether or not this is
. bad may depend on whether one is older than 20.
A strong opponent to the bill that would raise the
drinking age to 20, said passage of LB221 seems imminent
and that he is considering adding two amendments to
the bill.
Omaha Sen. Peter Hoagland said he is considering
supporting an amendment to the bill that would make it
legal for anyone who can show they have registered for
the draft to drink.
Hoagland used the same -argument in support of this
amendment as the one used years ago during efforts to
lower the voting age from 21 to 18.
MIt seems to me that if people are old enough to make
the supreme sacrifice for their country, they should be old
enough to drink," Hoagland said.
An amendment like this also would give teenagers an
incentive for registering for the draft, Hoagland said.
"It will encourage our teenagers to be law-abiding
citizens," he said.
Another amendment being considered by Hoagland is
one that would make it illegal to draft Nebraskans who
are considered minors under Nebraska law.
To make a point
Hoagland smiled when he said no one younger than 20
would be eligible for the draft with this amendment.
Hoagland admits that these amendments may not' get
enough support to be passed, but that he might propose
the amendments just to make a point about the bill.
With or without the amendments, Hoagland said the
bill has enough support to pass.
"It doesn't sound like there will be, any chance of get
ting a weakening of LB221," he said.
LB221, introduced by Sen. Ralph Kelly of Grand Is
land last year, marched from General File, to Select File
and then to Final Reading this year. Kelly's attempts at
passage last year were quashed when some of his support
ers went to lunch instead of waiting to vote on the bill.
This year the bill was amended while in General File
through the efforts of Sens. Hoagland and Donald Dworak
of Columbus. The Dworak-Hoagland amendment would
make it legal for 19- and 20-year-olds to drink alcohol in
supervised settings and buy alcohol in bars, but would not
allow them to buy package alcohol.
DeCamp amendment
After the bill went to Select File, Neligh Sen, John
DeCamp Introduced an amendment to make the legal
drinking age 20. Kelly supported the DeCamp amend
ment. However, Hoagland said that even a watered-down
version of the original bill will not be effective in cutting
down the number of teenage drinkers.
Hoagland said he thinks today's society is much more
permissive than it was when the drinking age was reduced
to 19 in the early 1970s.
"We are not going to reverse nine years of fundamental
societal changed by playing around with the drinking
age," Hoagland said.
Hoagland said he thought that the revised bill would
receive passage when it comes to Final Reading. A main
reason he said he thinks it will pass is because it is an
election year.
"If this were not an election year there would not be a
change in the drinking age at all," he said.
However, Kelly said he disagrees that the elections
have anything to do with the bill's success or failure.
.
We generation
He said passage of the bill will come partly because
people have realized they must be concerned with the
welfare' of others.
"I think the me generation has graduated and the -we
generation is now in school," Kelly said.
Some Legislature watchers have said they think LB221
finally is receiving enough votes because legislators are be
coming tired of the issue and want to get it out of the
way.
Kelly, however, said that people aren't getting tired of
the bill but are getting excited about it.
If the bill passes, Kelly predicted that' college campuses
will see a dramatic change in the types' of activities offer
ed. If the bill becomes law, he said, university students
will turn to more non-alcohol-related activities to enter
tain themselves.
Kelly also said that the battle about the drinking age
may not be over. - v , :
"There will be those who will be watching and"moni
toring the effects of the bill," he said. If age 20 is not
effective in cutting the number of teenage drinkers and
teenage alcohol-related traffic deaths, he said he will try
again for age 21,
It will take at least two years to determine how effec
tive the new law is, he said. The time limit on the grand
father clause must run out tirst, he said.
With the grandfather clause," those who are drinking
legally before the law goes into effect may continue drink
ing. LB221 will become law 90 days after the Legislature
adjourns, if it passes Final Reading.
. Indications from Kelly's office are that the bill will
come up for Final Reading the first or second week in
February.
Almost in control
T
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February 5th - 9th