Drunk driving legislation continues to be a central focus across the country as Madison, Wisconsin, lawmakers additionally address tougher legislation.

The Wisconsin state assembly is largely controlled by Democrats who have cited two major issues in this year's agenda: job creation, particularly in the green collar sector, and drunk driving sanctions. It may come as a surprise to see drunk driving taking center stage alongside job creation in one of the worst recessions in the nation's history.

However, historically, recessions have been a time of increased drinking and alcohol-related injuries and fatalities. While statistics have not yet been compiled to tell whether DUI/DWI accidents are on the rise currently, there have been a number of high-visibility DUI/DWI fatalities this summer to point in that direction.

The Wisconsin assembly addressed the issue in a news conference this week. They discussed proposals to change the drunk driving laws. One proposal is to mandate ignition interlock devices for first-time offenders with a BAC over a certain limit. They would also like to make a 4th drunk driving arrest a felony instead of the current misdemeanor status. A final issue on the table is to increase penalties for those drivers with children under the age of 14 in the car.

In a separate but related issue, lawmakers have also proposed raising the beer tax. As more and more states suffer from budget crises, these so called "sin taxes" are often touted as the savior to the lack of funding. California has proposed a similar measure to dramatically increase the cigarette tax.

In times of recession, these taxes are often the easiest to pass because they affect a smaller part of the population. There is reason to believe cigarettes and alcohol are more popular in a down economy, making the taxes even more lucrative.