Smoking ban debate heats up.

Publication Date: 2008-03-04

• Author:Brian D. Bridgeford
• Publication:Baraboo (WI) News Republic

State lawmakers are poised to vote on a proposed statewide smoking ban this week.

Local advocates for and against allowing smoking in public places will be battling for the attention of lawmakers this week as the Wisconsin State Assembly considers a statewide ban on the practice.

Cycling champion and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will be at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison at noon today to rally support for the measure, says Judy Spring, a Baraboo-based anti-tobacco advocate. It is the first time the cancer crusader has made such a visit to any state.

On Wednesday, representatives of the Wisconsin Tavern League will be at the Capitol speaking with legislators about a compromise on the ban and to assert the right of business owners, not government, to decide what their customers can do in their establishments, says Mick Quindt, local restaurant owner and president of the Sauk County Tavern League...

A spokesman for Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, said the earliest a ban could be considered is March 11, just days before the end of the legislative session.