A sharply divided Montana Republican Party went on record June 12 in support of passage of a state law to prohibit open containers of alcohol in motor vehicles.

Supporters called the new proposal critical for public safety and essential to preserve full federal funding for highway construction, the Missoulian reported.

Opponents called it taking away Montana’s traditional individual rights and bowing to blackmail by the federal government.

The language in the party’s transportation plank supports the ban and says: “Banning open containers of alcohol in operating motor vehicles contributes to safe travel on Montana’s public motorways and ensures continued funding of Montana’s federal highway (system) by the U.S. government.”

Under state law, drivers are prohibited from having an open alcoholic beverage, but passengers over 21 are free to drink while in the vehicle.

Currently, the state is required to spend a chunk of its federal highway funds on traffic safety because the state doesn’t have a ban on open containers of alcohol in vehicles.

Montana is one of only about a dozen states nationwide that allows passengers to drink; last year that distinction pulled 3 percent out of the highway construction budget and put it to other uses.

The federal government mandated in 2001 that states either pass open container laws or spend a percentage of federal highway dollars on public safety projects such as installing cables to prevent crossover accidents and drunken driving checkpoints.

“It’s not designed as a punishment, but it is a transfer from one use to another,” said Tim Hurd, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “If safety is diminished by the fact they don’t have an open-container law, some funds have to be used for enforcement programs or the reduction of hazards.”