The Wisconsin Restaurant Association announced Wednesday it would support a statewide ban on smoking in all indoor public places, including taverns and restaurants.
The lobbyist organization released the statement one day after Gov. Jim Doyle announced he would consider exempting bars from the ban if necessary to pass the smoking ban. Such a compromise, however, is not supported by the WRA.
Pete Hanson, WRA director of government relations, said the association has historically opposed — and continues to oppose — local smoking bans.
"We have always believed that smoking should be regulated statewide, not from one city to another," Hanson said.
Sporadic regulation created by local bans, he said, "creates winners and losers" in the restaurant business.
"We feel that banning smoking on a statewide basis creates a level playing field where … you're not going to gain customers based on what city or township you're in," Hanson added.
Doyle spokesperson Carla Vigue said while Doyle may ultimately have to compromise, the governor still supports a complete statewide ban first.
"[Doyle] is a realist," Vigue said. "He realizes he can't always get everything he wants, and if the Legislature comes up with a compromise, he's not going to throw his hands up and walk away from it."
According to Hanson, the WRA's board of directors decided to support the statewide ban almost unanimously. He also said the 30 local smoking bans already in place and additional bans anticipated in the upcoming year prompted the decision.
Pete Madland, executive director of the Wisconsin Tavern League, said he did not know what prompted Doyle's announcement, but called it a "very positive development" in the statewide smoking ban proposal.
Madland said the Tavern League would support a ban in restaurants, but opposes a ban in taverns and bar sections of restaurants. He said the legality of smoking inside an establishment is a "business decision," and that business decisions should be "left up to businesses."
Josh Wescott, communications director for state Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, said Robson supports "anything [citizens] can do to reduce the public health hazards posed by cigarette smoking."
The smoking ban could also drive down state health-care costs, Wescott added. He also said Robson feels the smoking ban is "clearly the way folks are going."
"We'll see over the next couple months if Wisconsin is ready to do this now," said Wescott, adding that he feels the ban is inevitable.
Bob Delaporte, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, declined comment on the smoking ban, noting that any compromise is "just speculation" until there is an actual bill to vote on.
According to Vigue, focusing on initiatives that aim to prevent kids from smoking and help adults stop smoking has been high on Doyle's agenda since he was Wisconsin's attorney general from 1990 to 1998.
The ban is part of a larger anti-smoking push by Doyle that includes a proposal to raise the current cigarette tax by $1.25.
