The Assembly and the Senate Health Committees have both heard the SFA bill. There was a lot of testimony from those in favor and opposed to the bill. After speaking with both sides, the Committee has offered some amendments to the original bill. On Friday, both Committees will meet in executive session, without public debate and will have a test vote on AB 253 and SB 181 with the proposed amendment outlined below. If passed, it will move to the organization committees in both chambers (the Senate and Assembly rules committee).
Amendments to AB 253 and SB 181
*Date of implementation: July 2010 (the original bill has 60 days, this is now 14 months)
*Fine structure: Individuals caught smoking in workplaces would be fined $100-$250. Business owners are under "due diligence" principle, which means if they see a violation, ask the person to stop, stop serving the customer, and ask them to leave the premise, they will not be fined if they call the police. The owner’s first violation does not carry a fine, but each subsequent offense has a $100 fine.
*Outside smoking: The bill says smokers have to maintain a "reasonable distance" from any smoke-free building. The bill also pre-empts local governments from passing ordinances banning smoking on outdoor patios. Governments can still regulate and pass smoke-free ordinances on outdoor city property such as parks and fair grounds. Individuals businesses can also choose to have smoke-free patios.
*Tobacco retailers that receive 75% or more of their income from tobacco sales can have smoking in their business.
*Cigar bars that receive 15% or more of their income from cigar sales can have cigar smoke in their establishments, but not cigarette smoke. Cigar bars are allowed to have a liquor license. (The current established cigar bars in Wisconsin (there are aprox. 10 in the state) will be grandfathered in. SmokeFree WI and other memebers of the Holding our Breath Coalition are working on setting a specific date for the grandfathering in of these and tobacco retailers.)
*Hookah bars: Indoor smoking will not be allowed under the bill or the proposed amendment, but could be allowed if 75% or more of their sales are from tobacco.
*Hotel rooms are not exempt under the new amendment. The original bill allows for hotel owners to have up to 25% of rooms be smoking. There might be an additional amendment on this when it’s debated on the floor.
*The bill and new amendment are silent on casinos. There is not a legal way to mandate that Native American casinos become smoke free, because they are sovereign nations and the state of Wisconsin does not have jurisdiction over them.
*Nursing homes are not exempted at this time. That may change due to federal law.
*Assisted living homes are considered private residences and individual rooms can allow smoking if it is someone’s personal residence. Additionally, if two or more people share a room and all want to allow smoking, they can sign a written agreement to that effect.
*Community based treatment centers (ie for treating alcohol or drug addiction, or a mental health facility) are not exempted from the smoke-free law.
If business owners are ready to go smoke-free now we can certainly encourage businesses to go smoke-free early.
The bill is part of the legislative process and although it contains a longer implementation date and more exemptions than we would prefer, it is an indoor smoke-free air bill, which is the ultimate goal, and the compromises introduced in this bill give it a better shot at passing.
REMEMBER: The smoke-free legislation has not passed yet, and we need to work hard to make sure it passes next week. Expect quite a few amendments to be debated on the floor. In addition, the smoke-free provision in the budget will be taken out at some point, but the exact timeline is unclear.
Timeline for the SFA bill after this week:
*Tuesday May 12: The Assembly Democrats will caucus about the smoke-free bill.
*Wednesday May 13: The bill will be up for debate in both houses. They will vote on the original bill, the proposed amendment, and any other amendments proposed.
*Both the Assembly and the Senate need to pass the same bill with the same amendments in order to send it to the governor for his signature. If one house adopts an amendment and the other does not, we do not have a bill and it must be debated upon again until both houses agree on the same version.
Contact SmokeFree WI (http://www.smokefreewi.org/) if there is something specific that you want to do on the 'lobbying' end.
Otherwise, contact Emily, edieringer@co.winnebago.wi.us with questions.
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