70 mph: Senate passes bill to raise the Wisconsin speed limit.

Some highways could see 70 mph

— The speed limit on some Wisconsin highways would rise to 70 mph, under a proposal approved by the state Senate on a voice vote Wednesday.

The bill would end Wisconsin’s status as a lone island of 65 mph limits in the Midwest by increasing the maximum speed on stretches of interstates and some other four-lane highways that have overpasses, underpasses and ramps instead of other roads that directly cross traffic on the highway.

The proposal now returns to the Assembly, which passed a different version on a bipartisan vote in March.

The bill would mean that stretches of all interstates in Wisconsin could be marked up to 70 mph by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration, as could stretches of state Highways 51, 53 and 151.

The proposal’s lead sponsor in the Senate, Republican Devin Lemahieu of Oostburg, called it “common sense legislation” that left a final decision on the speed limits up to state transportation officials.

“This legislation authorizes, but does not require, the Department of Transportation to raise the speed limit on interstates and freeways where it is safe to do so,” Lemahieu said.

All of Wisconsin’s neighbors have maximum speed limits of 70 mph or higher, and Wisconsin is the only state between Pennsylvania and Oregon that doesn’t have a maximum speed limit of at least 70 mph.

So far, Walker hasn’t said whether he would sign the bill and the state DOT has not said how much time it would take to determine which highway stretches could rise to 70 mph and then change their signs accordingly. Spokeswomen for Walker and the DOT had no further comment on the Senate action beyond saying that their offices are monitoring the legislation.

Until now, opponents have blocked the proposal’s passage in Wisconsin by arguing that there would be inevitable safety effects from allowing the higher speeds. But a compromise among GOP lawmakers cleared the way for the proposal to move forward by ensuring that highways with at-grade crossings for intersecting roads or even driveways couldn’t be cleared for 70 mph speeds.

AAA Wisconsin has argued that the speed limit should not be changed in Wisconsin, particularly for heavy trucks, because an increase of 5 mph could lengthen the stopping distance for those vehicles by as much as 100 feet, or 20%. The motorists group cites federal data showing that large trucks were involved in 7.4% of fatal crashes in Wisconsin in 2012, while Minnesota and Iowa — which allow trucks to travel 70 mph on rural highways — had rates of 10% and 13.2%, respectively.

Democrats such as Rep. Dan Riemer of Milwaukee have said that they won’t vote for the bill until they see strong evidence that it won’t make the state’s roads more dangerous, arguing that the proposal’s supporters owe that to the public. The Senate also passed measures to:

Broaden existing state law to make it a felony to physically harm or threaten to harm a current or former law enforcement officer, prosecutor or judge because of an official action taken by those authorities or their colleagues. The proposal goes to the Assembly.

Allow search warrants to be issued so that blood can be drawn for testing from a driver who is suspected of a first-time intoxicated driving offense. Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a failure to get a search warrant for a blood draw could affect a criminal case if the driver didn’t agree to the test first.

But in Wisconsin, it’s not possible currently to get a search warrant in first-time drunken driving cases. That’s because search warrants are issued only in criminal investigations and Wisconsin is the only state in the nation in which first offense drunken driving on its own is a municipal violation, similar to a speeding ticket, and not a crime.

In approving the measure on a voice vote, the Senate sent it to the Assembly.

Make it a crime for a person to falsely claim that he or she received military honors in the absence of such awards. The Assembly will take the proposal up next.

Make it a misdemeanor to put a global positioning device on people or their vehicle without their consent. There would be exemptions for law enforcement; parents and guardians using the devices to track their minor children; businesses that monitor where their vehicles go; and lien holders who use the devices to find vehicles for repossession.

The Senate passed the measure on a voice vote Wednesday. The Assembly approved it in February.