HELENA - Citizens and industry groups squared off Wednesday over a proposal to temporarily weaken penalties for bars, casinos and stores caught illegally selling alcohol to minors - if they voluntarily train employees in a responsible alcohol sales and service course.

The state Revenue Department proposed changing penalties only for those businesses that require workers to take the state-approved course within 30 days of being hired, and to train all employees annually. The agency will decide later on whether to adopt the new rules.

Here are the current penalties for illegally selling alcoholic beverages to minors: first offense, $250; second offense, $1,000; third offense, $1,500 or a 20-day suspension of the owner's license; and fourth offense: revocation of the license.

The proposed new penalties for businesses providing the responsible alcohol sales course are: first offense, written reprimand; second offense; $100; third offense, $250; fourth offense, $750; fifth offense, $1,500 or two-day suspension of license or both; sixth offense: revocation of license.

Tawny Haynes, widow of a Highway Patrol officer killed by a drunken driver this year in the Flathead Valley, criticized the proposed rules change as putting Montanans in further danger.

Haynes said the proposal amounts to "chipping away at prevention."

"Our bartenders and servers are the first line of defense against drunken driving," she said. "I'd like to know when handing out a free pass and giving someone less accountability has ever encouraged them to be more responsible."

However, Neil Peterson, executive director of the Gaming Industry Association, who supported the rule change, said his group is fully committed to training servers at their casinos.

It is not true that bars and other establishments are the main source of illegal alcohol sales to minors, Peterson said. He cited several national surveys showing that minors mostly get the alcohol from parents, relatives or adult friends.

"Everyone reads in the paper all these compliance efforts going on by local law enforcement," he said. "I don't think these necessarily portray the reality."

Other associations representing taverns and convenience stores supported the proposed state Revenue Department rule change.

Robert Anderson, executive director of the Montana Tavern Association, praised the rule change, saying: "It gives extra incentive for retailers to train every year for a slight diminution in penalties."

But opponents, including the mother of another Highway Patrol officer killed by a drunken driver, adamantly opposed the changes. They also called for stiffer penalties for those who serve intoxicated customers.

"I am raising my two young children alone because a bartender didn't care enough about what his intoxicated customer did when he left the bar," Haynes said. "This proposed change is absolutely absurd and honestly it angers me that something like this is even being discussed."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving opposes any attempt to "decrease consequences for sellers, servers and their employees," said Rebecca Sturdevant of Kalispell. Her son, Evan Schneider, was a Highway Patrol officer killed by a drunken driver in the Flathead Valley in 2008.

She called for mandatory training for everyone who sells or serves alcohol, and holding them accountable as accessories to crime in any drunken driving accidents.

However, the particular proposed rules would apply only to bars, casinos and stories caught selling alcohol to minors.

If adopted, the proposed changes would expire in 18 months, giving the Revenue Department a chance to evaluate their effectiveness before deciding whether to retain them, said Shauna Helfert, administrator of the state's Liquor Control Division. She said Montana's penalties for first violation sales to minors already are among the most lenient nationally.

Ronna Alexander, executive director of the Montana Convenience Store Association, said the rules are based on a 2009 bill that passed the House but was withdrawn in the Senate.

She said the groups supporting the bill rejected as not feasible other approaches such as licensing bartenders and clerks, not bars and stores, and requiring mandatory training for clerks and bartenders.

The best approach, Alexander said, was "to give businesses an incentive, or reward, to get training." She said her association is offering a series of training sessions statewide.

Kalispell Mayor-elect Tammi Fisher, a former prosecutor, opposed the rules, saying: "To lighten the penalties is a step backward."

Kristin Lundgren, representing a Billings group called Roots of Promise: the Alliance for Children and Families, said the rule change takes away a needed tool. She called for a multi-pronged strategy to fight drunken driving.

Reporter Charles S. Johnson can be reached at (406) 447-4066 or at chuck.johnson@lee.net.