The Associated Press



BATON ROUGE -- A proposal to toughen Louisiana's law against open containers of

alcohol in automobiles unexpectedly was derailed Thursday in a House of Representatives

that was short on members.



The Senate already has passed Sen. Joel Chaisson's bill unanimously. And the House

Judiciary Committee, usually opposed to such measures, approved it Wednesday night.



The proposal's last major hurdle was the House. After the Judiciary Committee's

approval, it ordinarily would have been scheduled for floor debate next week.



But Thursday afternoon, as the House was wrapping up the day's business and preparing

to leave for a long Memorial Day weekend, Rep. Taylor Townsend moved to recommit the

bill to the House Criminal Justice Committee. The motion was approved 64-22 with no

debate and with 19 House members having left the chamber or declining to vote.



Rep. Bobby Faucheux, D-LaPlace, objected. He later said he was unable to get Speaker

Charlie DeWitt's attention so he could speak against Townsend's motion. ``I think

everybody was asleep, but it was being lobbied,' Faucheux said, adding that some House

members were leaving or had left when the issue arose.



Faucheux said he will ask the House on Tuesday to order the bill out of committee.



Chris Young, lobbyist for the Louisiana Association of Beverage Alcohol Licensees,

acknowledged lobbying to have the bill recommitted.



Both Judiciary and Criminal Justice have been hard committees for supporters of such

legislation.



The vote to recommit gives liquor lobbyists a second chance to keep the bill from

reaching the House floor.



``We thought we had it killed in Judiciary,' said Young, who would not predict the

outcome in Criminal Justice.



``I'm not giving up on this. It is really amazing the power the alcohol lobby has

over the House of Representatives,' said Chaisson, D-Destrehan.



Townsend later said that his move to recommit the bill was not an attempt to kill it.

The subject matter dealt with criminalizing an activity. As such, he said, the bill

should have been heard by Criminal Justice.



Current Louisiana law makes it illegal for drivers, but not passengers, to possess

open containers of alcohol. Backers of the Chaisson bill say that makes it easy for a

driver to avoid prosecution by simply handing his or her drink to a friend. Opponents of

the bill say it would criminalize social drinking in automobiles, such as that which

takes place in cars and vans en route to tailgate parties for football games.



According to Jim Champagne of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission, federal

mandates require states to apply the law to everyone in a vehicle. Those that do not

will lose federal highway construction dollars, which would be diverted to safety

programs. Champagne said about $8 million to $10 million is at stake in Louisiana.