Republican majority leader Sen. Joseph L. Bruno said the Senate would end a deadlock and pass an Assembly bill that would lower the threshold for drunk driving from .10 percent to .08 percent. The impasse has cost the state tens of millions of dollars in federal highway subsidies.

Bruno also said he would urge the House Democratic majority to pass a separate bill that would increase penalties for people arrested repeatedly for drunk driving. The penalty proposal was the controversial item in last year's failed 0.08 bill.

"It was a terrible delay," said Dee Cornella, president of the Long Island Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "We couldn't understand why it couldn't be passed."

Gov. George E. Pataki pledged to sign the bill when it reaches his desk. New York would become the 32nd state to adopt a .08 blood-alcohol limit.

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