Just a couple years after vetoing an identical piece of legislation, Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill into law Friday banning individuals from suing restaurants for contributing to their obesity.

Doyle defended his decision as a reflection of the changing times in Wisconsin, adding that the national frequency of obesity lawsuits has increased in recent years.

"At the time [of the governor's veto], these lawsuits just weren't happening in Wisconsin," Doyle's spokesman Dan Leistikow said.

Leistikow added the governor's action to sign the legislation, called Senate Bill 161, echoes recent reforms in other states that have passed similar measures.

"There has been a lot of talk about these kinds of lawsuits in other states," he said, "and this bill just makes sure that we don't see these kinds of lawsuits come to Wisconsin."

Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, author of SB 161 and its predecessor last session, agreed, but criticized the governor for his original veto.

Doyle's decision to sign the measure, Reynolds said in a release, will help deter frivolous lawsuits "rather than play to trial lawyers as he did last session."

According to Reynolds, frivolous obesity lawsuits demonstrate a lack of personal responsibility and will not be tolerated in Wisconsin.

"The goal of my bill is to place responsibility on individuals for the choices they make," he said. "Blaming the food industry does nothing to remedy the obesity epidemic."

While the bill exempts food manufacturers, marketers, advertisers, distributors and sellers of food from any civil liability lawsuits regarding obesity-related health complications, Leistikow said such entities are still subject to certain regulations.

"The governor certainly thinks it's reasonable that you just can't sue a restaurant because you're overweight," he said. "But at the same time, a restaurant should be accountable if they're misleading, if they misrepresent their product or break the law."

As Reynolds continued to argue Doyle's previous actions have represented a bow to trial lawyers, Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, made similar accusations Friday when Doyle vetoed two other tort reform measures.

Authored by Grothman, Senate Bills 501 and 447 were aimed to curb the amount of frivolous lawsuits in the state. SB 501 would have required judges to order plaintiffs in such cases to pay damages to defendants, and SB 447 would have forced plaintiffs to prove the defendants intended to injure them in order to claim punitive damages.

According to Doyle's veto messages, the two measures would have removed judicial discretion and made it nearly impossible to ever obtain punitive damages.

In a separate action, the governor signed Assembly Bill 64 into law, requiring all polling places in Wisconsin to hold uniform hours and stay open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Under previous law, polls opened at various hours according to the city's size.

"[The bill] ensures that there is no confusion about what time polls open and close so people don't lose their right to vote," Leistikow said.

SB 161 and AB 64 mark two of 24 bills the governor signed into law Friday.