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Democrats to revisit smoking ban, hospital tax
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With the newly elected Democratic majority in the state Assembly and Senate, legislative leaders are looking to push through initiatives that previously failed in the Republican-controlled Assembly.
One issue to be discussed is the statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. Bills concerning this issue have gone through the Legislature in the past but have not been pushed through, according to Ryan Murray, communications director for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.
Rep. Kim Hixon, D-Whitewater, said Democrats will push for a full ban of smoking in all restaurants and bars in the state in response to the negative health effects of secondhand smoke.
“The science is there. It can have adverse effects on health,” Hixon said. “Some people work in those environments.”
Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said smoking is one of the most serious health issues in the state. He called Wisconsin an island, as Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois have all passed statewide bans on smoking in restaurants.
According to Murray, many Republicans are working toward a compromise on the smoking ban, and their plan is to ban smoking in restaurants and slowly phase out smoking in bars.
Murray said Fitzgerald understands the need for a statewide standard and is concerned about cities passing their own bans. He said Appleton has passed a ban on smoking in bars, and Appleton bars are suffering, as people can drive to the neighboring cities where there are not smoking bans.
Another issue likely to be discussed by the Legislature is the tax on hospital services that was first introduced in Gov. Jim Doyle’s 2007-09 state budget, said Jim Bender, spokesperson for Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon.
The plan would tax hospital services and the money generated would then be matched by the federal government and used for Medicare reimbursements.
Risser said the tax could bring $500,000 in federal funds to the state of Wisconsin.
The tax was previously a 1 percent tax, which allowed $125 million dollars of the federal funding to be used for the general budget and not health care, according to Bender.
“The tax is taking money from hospitals and giving it back in a different formula,” Bender said. “But there are winners and losers.”
While the bill failed in the previously Republican-controlled Assembly, Risser expects it to pass in the newly Democratic-controlled Assembly.
The main priority of the Legislature will be the economy and job crisis in Wisconsin, according Risser. Health care and the search for alternative energy sources are also important issues, he said.
Hixon added getting control of the economy and jobs will likely “put a lot of these other issues on the back burner.”
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Anyone who thinks that they can stop people from smoking in every small neighborhood bar in the world is living in La-La land. Here in Chicago, the Illinois ban, and the governor who wants to spend tax dollars to advertise its success, is a joke. The local police, and the neighbors prefer patrons to stay inside the bars.
That’s nice Bob, but people from Wisconsin are more sensible. The ban is working fine here in Madison.