Iowa is in danger of losing federal road funding if the state Legislature doesn’t lower the blood alcohol level used to determine “operating while intoxicated” from .10 to .08.

Senate File 2144, which would have enacted that change, was “blue-carded” in the Iowa House on the last day of the legislative session, which means Republicans took an informal poll of their party and decided there were not enough votes for the bill to pass.

“There was the same amount of yes votes as no votes,” said Lance Horbach, R-Tama.

The federal government passed a law in October 2000 that requires states to adopt the .08 blood-alcohol limit in order to receive federal funding for roads.

The Iowa Legislature adjourned for the session April 11, leaving the bill to be decided next year.

Gov. Tom Vilsack has called for a special session of the Iowa legislature to convene on Monday, but the main focus of that session will be the budget, said Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames.

The .08 bill passed the Iowa Senate on March 6.

It was read in the House the next day, but some of the representatives resented the federal government coercing them into passing the law, Greimann said.

“I believe that we will lose money next year if we don’t pass this,” Greimann said.

Horbach said the Legislature was “trying to get a compromise.”

Horbach and Rep. Frank Chiodo, D-Des Moines, withdrew a compromise to change penalties for drunk driving depending on the blood alcohol content.

Motorists who tested at 0.15 or higher would face a mandatory two-day stay in jail for a first offense, a $1,500 fine and a six-month loss of driving privileges.

Drivers testing between 0.1 and 0.15 could face up to two days in jail and the same fine.

Those between 0.08 and 0.1 could avoid jail.

Horbach and Chiodo said their plan would meet the criticism that the lower blood alcohol limit would punish those who only have a few social drinks and not the real dangers on the highway – alcoholics with an extremely high blood alcohol level.

The compromise angered federal officials, who said it wasn’t enough to prevent the loss of federal funds, and police officers and prosecutors, who said it weakened drunk driving penalties.

According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, 28 percent of the 450 fatal traffic accidents in 2001 involved intoxicated drivers.

– The Associated Press contributed to this article.