With just days left for the Legislature to act, proponents of a bill to ban smoking in all workplaces statewide are trying to revive the legislation in the Assembly after it stalled in the Senate.

And opponents say they plan to intensify their efforts to make sure the ban isn 't enacted.

The Assembly Public Health Committee held a public hearing on the measure Wednesday and scheduled a vote on it for Tuesday, when seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is scheduled to be in Madison to lobby for the ban as part of the Citizens for Smoke Free Air rally at Monona Terrace.

Supporters hope that will generate enough momentum to propel the ban to pass the Senate and Assembly.

"We have more life in this bill now than in the last six months, maybe a year, " said Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, sponsor of AB 834, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2009.

But it 's still unclear whether the Assembly will schedule a floor vote on the bill. Jim Bender, a spokesman for Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, the majority leader, said the earliest the bill could be considered would likely be March 11, one of the final days the Legislature is scheduled to act on bills.

Carrie Lynch, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said the bill would have to be modified to get enough support for passage by a Senate majority.

Decker is still trying to work out a compromise that will win broad support from Democrats and Republicans, along with groups on both sides of the issue, she said.

Meanwhile, opponents are increasing their efforts to make sure a smoking ban isn 't passed.

The Tavern League of Wisconsin has begun running radio ads opposing the ban, and its members will descend on the Capitol on Wednesday to lobby against the bill, said Pete Madland, executive director.

And a new group called Ban the Ban Wisconsin formed late last month to fight a statewide smoking ban.

The group said in a news release this week that it "will start stepping up advertising and information dissemination efforts in the coming weeks. "

Panel OK 'd similar bill

In January, a Senate committee passed a similar bill, SB 150, to ban smoking in workplaces statewide. But before scheduling a floor vote, Decker said he wanted to amend the bill so that it could get broader support.

He offered his own proposal that would impose a statewide smoking ban about seven months after it becomes law but exempt taverns until July 1, 2011. It would also prohibit local governments from enacting separate bans.

Madland said his group doesn 't want a ban to apply to taverns. He declined to say what sort of compromise the group would consider.

Alison Prange, government relations director for the American Cancer Society, said Decker 's proposal would start the ban in taverns too late and that local governments shouldn 't be barred from enacting their own bans.

Lynch said Decker continues to try to bring both sides together to craft a bill that can pass.

Proponents see passage

Ban proponents say there are enough votes among Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to pass SB 150 without compromising.

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, SB 150 sponsor, said his bill would already be passed out of the Senate if the chamber hadn 't installed Decker as majority leader last year.

Proponents say there 's also enough support in the Assembly to pass AB 834.

John Murray, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, declined to say whether Huebsch plans to bring the Assembly version to the floor, but said "the bill has the same challenges over here as it does in the Senate. "

Huebsch has said any bill to ban smoking in workplaces must apply to all communities equally.

Sens. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, and Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, who support the statewide ban, say they 're doubtful a ban will be enacted before lawmakers adjourn.

Jauch said lawmakers who don 't support it could pay the price at the voting booth in November.

"It 's going to be a major issue in the campaign, " Jauch said. "The public pressure is going to be on every legislator who is one the fence. Are you for it or are you against it? "