Negotiations over a proposed statewide smoking ban broke down again Wednesday at the state Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, met with supporters and opponents of the ban, but the groups failed to reach a compromise on how, or if, a ban could be implemented.
Decker proposed an immediate smoking ban on all restaurants and work places that do not sell alcohol. Under his proposal, the smoking ban on bars and taverns, however, would not be in effect until July 1, 2011, under Decker’s proposal.
Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Decker, said the delay would give smaller institutions time to prepare their business for the ban.
“A lot of these smaller businesses up north, they have their life savings invested in these places. These are their retirement plans,” Lynch said.
A bill without amendments for bars and taverns is unlikely to pass, Lynch said. The state Legislature is in session until the end of March. If a bill does not pass by then, the process will have to start over in the 2009 session.
“This is the fastest way to get there,” she said, referring to possible passage of the bill.
Under Decker’s plan all local smoking bans would be grandfathered in. Cities like Madison and Appleton would then still have bans in effect.
State Assembly Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, is a supporter of the ban and authored an Assembly version of the bill. He said Appleton residents have voted for a local ban three times.
Wieckert said over 5,000 people per year die from second hand smoke. He said he supports an immediate, universal ban but said some compromise is acceptable if it moves the bill forward in the legislature.
“I think what Senator Decker is doing is trying to delay the bill’s consideration by authoring all these amendments,” Wieckert said.
Gov. Jim Doyle supports a statewide ban.
State Sen. Roger Breske, D-Eland, does not support a smoking ban. He has previously said it is not the Legislature’s responsibility to regulate smoking. He has called the ban “hogwash,” saying it will not solve health problems in the state.
