Proposed 'Dining Act' has anti-smoking group steaming

Publication Date: 2005-04-15

• Author:Judy Wiff
• Publication:River Falls (WI) Journal

Supporters call it the "Smoke Free Dining Act." Opponents say it's a thinly veiled effort to undermine local smoke-free standards and block future progress on the issue.

The new bill - authored by Sen. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and his brother Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon - would expand the general prohibition against smoking in restaurants to smaller establishments and to bowling centers. But it would eliminate the right of local municipalities to develop laws that don't "strictly conform" to state law.

State lawmakers have until April 13 to sign on as supporters to the bill, which will probably be introduced in the Wisconsin Senate a few days later.