Pressure builds to pass statewide smoking ban, but powerful foe remains

Steven Elbow  —  1/13/2009 5:58 am

When Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker stood in the way of a statewide smoking ban, his hometown of Weston took matters into its own hands, passing one of the strictest smoking bans in the state.

Weston is not alone. Since smoking ban legislation died last year, Eau Claire, Marshfield, Monona, Middleton, Fond du Lac and Dane County have decided against waiting for the state to take action and have joined 30 other Wisconsin communities that have passed smoking restrictions.

Smoking foes say the momentum will put pressure on lawmakers to pass a statewide ban this time around.

"You now have approximately 250,000 individuals who live in communities that are protected by local ordinances that have been passed since the end of the (legislative) session," said Eric Schutt, a lobbyist for the American Cancer Society of Wisconsin.

The flurry of smoking bans across the state poses a problem for opponents of the ban, most notably the Wisconsin Tavern League. Decker, going to bat for the league, let Senate legislation die last year after insisting on two provisions that were unpalatable to smoking foes: He wanted three and a half years to implement the ban, and he wanted local governments to be forbidden from enacting bans of their own during that time.

Advocates of the ban would have none of it, and they went on to support local communities interested in passing their own restrictions.

Nowhere were they more successful than in Decker's hometown, where last month the Weston Village Board voted 6-0 to pass what is arguably the strictest smoking ordinance in the state, banning smoking in all work places. Even Madison, the reputed bastion of big-brotherhood, allows smoking in hotels.

That puts Decker, who is up for re-election next year, at odds with his own constituents.

"We have gotten little or no support from Russ on this issue," said Weston Village Administrator Dean Zuleger. "We've had to go this one alone."

Weston's road toward a smoking ban started in the summer of 2007, he said, when the village's newsletter -- which regularly poses questions concerning local issues -- asked residents to weigh in on a smoking ban.

"Normally we get 50, 60, 70 responses, sometimes 100," Zuleger said. "We got over 650 responses, so it was overwhelming."

The results: 65 percent backed a ban on smoking in most public places, but 53 percent felt bars should be exempt.

The powerful Wisconsin Tavern League and state anti-smoking groups got wind of the survey, Zuleger said, and both sides tried to "load the poll up."

"There were about 193 ballots that came late that we just knew were not legitimate residents," Zuleger said.

After the vote, the village reaffirmed an earlier resolution to support a statewide ban and sent the results of the vote to Decker.

Decker spokeswoman Carrie Lynch said the narrow majority favoring an exemption for taverns shows that Decker is "accurately representing his area."

But Zuleger said posing the question started a local groundswell of support that continued to grow, eventually prompting the village board to hold five meetings to meet with tavern owners and craft an ordinance.

"We asked him to come to a meeting," Zuleger said of Decker, "and he declined."

At first, two members of the board staunchly opposed the ban. Others, Zuleger said, were put off by the tactics of the statewide advocacy groups, mainly the anti-smoking forces, which Zuleger said began aggressively push-polling board members on the issue. But the doubters eventually jumped on board the pro-ban bandwagon.

"I felt like I got squeezed by the anti-smoking advocates a little bit, and so did my board," Zuleger said. "But as we did the five meetings where we really looked at the issue, it really came down to protecting the public health."

In the debate on a statewide ban, the word compromise is a common refrain.

Lynch said Decker is "willing to compromise."

"As long as the smoke-free people are willing to compromise a little bit too, I think we can get it done fairly easily," she said.

The lobbyist for the Tavern League -- a group that on its Web site vows to "fight a statewide smoking ban in all public places" -- maintains that ban proponents need to soften their stand.

"I've been doing this a long time," lobbyist Scott Stenger said, "and I don't recall very many instances where you get the whole loaf. And from our perspective as well as theirs they want the whole loaf.

"If they want to sit down, we can compromise and this thing could be done in a week," he added.

But Dona Wininsky, director of public policy for the American Lung Association, said the two sides are "still pretty far apart."

She said the major sticking point continues to be any provision that would keep local governments from passing their own bans during an excessively long enactment period.

"There are a couple of hundred thousand more people that are now covered by local ordinances that would not have been under that deal, if it had passed last session," Wininsky said.

State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, the author of the bill that languished last session, said he plans to introduce it again this month, with no local restrictions. A companion bill is being drafted in the Assembly.

Risser said he expects the legislation to pass, putting Wisconsin in the company of 23 other states and the District of Columbia with smoking restrictions.

Risser cited a number of factors that make him more optimistic about the ban's prospects this year.

For one, the bill will be introduced earlier, giving proponents a better chance to counter attempts to tank it before the end of the session. Last year, he said, non-smoking advocates simply ran out of time.

"If it had come up on the floor I think there was a good chance it would have passed," he said.

In addition, he said, public awareness has increased. And the number of localities passing their own bans shows that support is growing.

Clearly, ban advocates feel they have the upper hand.

Gov. Jim Doyle is an enthusiastic supporter of a ban. And newly elected Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan said the prospects for a ban to pass in his house look good.

"While people on both sides of this issue have strong opinions, I know that we can find common ground," he said in a written statement. "We can limit second-hand smoke risks to the public, while considering the needs of small businesses statewide."

Former Sen. Roger Breske, a former president of the Tavern League and a key opponent of the ban, has left to become Doyle's railroad commissioner.

But while the clout of the Tavern League's 5,200 members may be diminished with Breske's departure, Decker is still seen as a key ally.

"He's clearly a vocal, strong opponent," Schutt said.

Steven Elbow  —  1/13/2009 5:58 am