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Public debates possible state smoking ban
Senate holds hearing at Capitol to listen to concerns about proposed legislation
REBECCA MCKEAG/Herald photo
The Wisconsin Senate held a public hearing Tuesday on the smoking ban.
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A state Senate committee held a public hearing Tuesday morning to discuss the proposed statewide smoking ban, which would prohibit smoking in all workplaces in the state, including bars and restaurants.
The ban is also included in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal currently under consideration by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance.
At the hearing, Senate President Fred Risser, D-Madison, author of the ban, discussed the proposal’s benefits.
“The time has come now to provide a healthy environment for our workers and patrons alike,” Risser said.
Rep. Alvin Ott, R-Forest Junction, reiterated Risser’s statement, arguing the proposal is “as simple as the breath we breathe.” Ott also highlighted the costs associated with smoking.
Despite this legislative support for the proposal, the Tavern League of Wisconsin and its members are against the proposal and testified at the hearing.
“The smoking ban could be the last nail in the coffin for the small business owner in the state of Wisconsin,” said Tavern League Representative Rob Swearingen, who owns the Al Gen Club in Rhinelander. “This is a highly emotional issue for our membership. … We are trying to pay our bills.”
Swearingen added given the state’s current economic situation, this is not the time for the Legislature to take up the smoking ban, and he suggested they focus their efforts on improving unemployment rates and reducing the state’s budget shortfall.
Tavern League Executive Director Pete Madland said though the bill aims to clean up the air in taverns throughout the state, the taverns already conform to Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines for clean air.
Madland also shared stories of businesses throughout the state that went under after their city or town enacted smoking bans.
“If I have a member that goes broke making bad decisions on their own … they’re OK with that, if they go broke, they lose everything they’ve worked for their entire life because of a decision government makes, that’s quite another,” Madland said.
Although the ban aims to ban smoking indoors at all public places, it exempts American Indian casinos and allows hotel owners to permit smoking in one-fourth of their rooms if they so choose.
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These bans will go down as the biggest marketing scam in history. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2009/03/smoking-ban-lobbyists-big-pharma-upset.html
The blog referenced here is an obvious PR tool of the tobacco companies and their right wing ilk. You can also join the NRA at this web site, so it’s little wonder where their allegiances lie.
If there was a smoking ban, the taverns would enjoy an equal playing field state wide which does not exist today. The people, children and emplyees would breathe clean air rather than the arsenic, formaldehyde etc. Healthcare costs would seriously decrease.
Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and 20 other states have smoking bans. This shows those states as more progressive and Wisconsin as oppresove. It is time for us to get on board because those of us who have been injurred by second hand smoke are not going away.
9:31 writes: “If there was a smoking ban, the taverns would enjoy an equal playing field”
Enjoy? If the state banned alcohol, taverns would “enjoy” an equal playing field too. The equal banning of freedom is nothing to be enjoyed.
“The people, children and emplyees would breathe clean air rather than the arsenic, formaldehyde etc.”
No one is being forced to breathe smoke. Those who care about retaining the freedom to choose what air they breathe should respect the freedom of others to do the same.