Tuesday, January 8, 2008

We want YOU to weigh in

What do you think of today's amendments and committee vote?

27 comments:

Unknown said...

This just proves the committee members voting against a complete smoke free wisconsin are low life losers! Wisconsin is the ash tray of the midwest! What is wrong with the committee? The way the bill was voted why even bother changing it??!!

Anonymous said...

I agree. This is riduculous. So possibly two years from now, bars and restaurants will be smoke free? In the meantime, I get to enjoy dinners and bowling with my children in smokey atmospheres? Great. Looks like MN will continue to get more of my business.....what is next with this? Where does it go from here, and can Doyle make the final decision to change this???

Anonymous said...

What frustrates me even more is that the support for this bill has been OVERWHELMING state wide! Have these people been reading the newspapers in all cities of our state? The letters FOR this ban are just pouring in--all over the state! I don't understand their mentality....this really bothers me. But what else can we do?? it appears that writing letters, making phone calls, and showing our support towards this bill are doing no good:(

Anonymous said...

Are Kreitlow and Schultz smokers??? That is the only reason I can think of they are making such ludicrous decisions.

Anonymous said...

Since when are cigars not a form of smoking, and why are they exempt?

Sen. Kreitlow being 10 when CA enacted their law...Hmmm, doesn't that suggest that WI is way behind the times? It's time to catch up not continue to lag behind. In the meatime thousands will continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke and their health will continue to deteriorate. Not the leadership a Healthy Wisconsin is looking for!!!

Is there any way for the Senate/House/Gov. to amend these amendments to restore the initial phase in period?

pinky said...

I guess this is confirmation of how backwards our elected officials truly are. If this bill can't even get out of the PUBLIC HEALTH committee without this kind of hack job, the poor people of this great state are doomed! Time to ramp it up at the polls, if you ask me! Since Senator Kreitlow doesn't believe that anyone exhists outside of Madison, perhaps a tsunami of letters, phone calls and emails are in order!

Anonymous said...

I'm happy with the result. I'm just glad to hear that it passed. I have waited a long time for the state to be smoke-free and I can wait another year for the businesses in the state to prepare and comply. If these compromises help to make Wisconsin smoke-free, I'm all for it.

Anonymous said...

Two years that is just crazy. How many lives will be lost in that two year span? That is a very important question that the Governor needs to think about.

Anonymous said...

Why the wait? What good could it do? Let's get the ball rolling as soon as possible. What is it with politicians and cigars?Unbelieveable, doesn't cigar smoke contain two times the tar as the average cig?

Anonymous said...

This "down the road" implementation of SB150 just goes to show that once proud and progressive Wisconsin has literally fallen on it's butt on this issue.
Kreitlow & Schultz must have pockets full of tobacco lobbyist money to have acted with such disregard for public health

Anonymous said...

Since the 2006 Surgeon General's announcement of the immediate harms of secondhand smoke, any hesitation a is threat to public health. Our public health committee has taken a step positive here, but not with the immediacy it would award any other immediate threat.

Anonymous said...

If you don't like the smoke there are plenty of smoke free places to go. I DO NOT smoke and never have. I do however own a bar. This bar supports me and my family, the government does not! And I DO NOT think the government should be able to tell me what to do in a building I own. I pay my taxes, both property and sales!!! I DO NOT RELY ON THE STATE TO SUPPORT ME OR MY FAMILY AND I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO LIMIT MY ABILITY TO SUPPORT MY FAMILY!!!!!!
Edgerton, WI

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely crazy! We put up with smoke every place we go for two more years now. How many more lives will be lost? I cannot believe this. Don't these people read the papers and know all the states around us have already passed this legislation?

Anonymous said...

This is an embarassment to Wisconsin to wait two years! If Minnesota and Illinois can get it done, why can't we? What more can we do? Pathetic!

Anonymous said...

This is ridiculous! I have been waiting for this state to be smoke free and this is SO disappointing. Why wait? Wait for more people to breathe in second hand smoke? Smoking is so gross and smokers dont even care if they are killing everyone else around them. I guess Illinois will be getting more of my business. I would rather travel farther to a smoke free bar or resturant then deal with this crap!!!! Come on wisconsin, get ur head outta ur butt!

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the dyslexia...

Anonymous said...

Folks --

I had the opportunity to closely follow the Minnesota smoking ban legislative process, and what happened yesterday in Wisconsin seems very familiar. There will be months of this stuff, but I think the fact is that the majority of your legislators already know how this is going to play out (full statewide ban), but some are acting like they're anti-ban just to placate various constituencies and ultimately be able to tell ban detractors they did what they could to stop it. So, be patient -- I think there's a lot of theater going on. But don't get complacent! Keep contacting legislators, attending meetings, etc. As a native cheesehead, I can't have Wisconsin be the ashtray of the Midwest!

Anonymous said...

As a bar owner, I am tired of the government telling me what I can and can't do with my business. I am a non-smoker, but many of our customers are smokers so we deal with that by having a state of the art air cleaning filtration system. By becoming a non-smoking bar we will lose many loyal, local customers, and I guarantee we will not gain any. What's wrong with the way things are now? Most restaurants have a smoking and non-smoking section; aren't we adult enough to make up our own minds as to which side we'll sit on? Compromise would do us all well!

Anonymous said...

I think Kreitlow must be insane! The La Crosse Tribune is doing a reader poll online today about the smoking ban. So far, at only 10 a.m., the vote stands as 621 FOR the ban & 178 AGAINST it. How can he say there is not support for this ban outside of Madison??!!!

Anonymous said...

I believe the businesses and individuals of the great state of Wisconsin are intelligent enough to make their own decisions on how to run their business and run their lives. Maybe the state of Wisconsin can control what food is served and what food I eat next. Remember, heart disease is the #1 killer in the US, the largest contributor to heart disease is obesity and the largest contributor to obesity is food.

--a non-smoker

Some quotes to think about:

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison


"...and this is the issue at hand, whether we believe in our capacity for self government, or weather we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves." - Ronald Reagan

"Those who want to give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."" - Ronald Reagan

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." - Gerald R. Ford

Bob said...

I think this is another example of government going too far. I do not smoke and I choose not to frequent those establishments that have smoking. It is called FREEDOM which everyone else seems to be willing to throw in the trash. For those people who work in bars and restaurants it is choice. There are plenty of places they can make minimum wage. Places that allow smoking are notorious for paying nothing to their employees.

Moreover, we have seen this before. Anyone remember the tobacco settlement all the money for health care... oh yeah that's right the politicians stole for their own pet projects.

How about just giving people freedom it was what our founding fathers wanted...hmm maybe you forgot.

Anonymous said...

Its funny and sad how some ppl will always say Second hand smoking is fine!! And they always compare it to the #1 cause of death being heart disease. But how is the guy next to me eating a DOUBLE FAT BURGER going to KILL ME?

I was able to go to a bar in Orlando recently to watch a football game ...reason being..it's was all NON SMOKING!! If there was smoking, my family and I are out of there in a sec.

We don't even visit a Applebee (Brookfield ) anymore because the bar is right in the middle of the restaurant where there is smoking and the rest of the restaurant is non-smoking which is completely useless!!

It's 2 years away--since I agree that it is too slow, but at least it is currently in process. Got to give the taverns and restaurant some time to say good byes to their ash trays.

Anonymous said...

Bars/restaurants do not have the right to serve food that is "immediate danger to health", to line their walls with aesbestos, or even neglect to purchase and maintain fire extinquishers for the public's protection. The government does have a role in protecting significant threats to our public's health, a role too serious to leave up to an individual bar/restaurant owner's choice.

Anonymous said...

Thank you friend from Minnesota, I appreciate your perspective and feel it is good advice. All supporters of a smoke free Wisconsin MUST write, call and email their representatives and the House and Senate leaders (Decker and Huebsch)NOW - to move this forward. They cannot honestly or ethically ignore a mountain of contacts requesting the chance for a smoke-free Wisconsin. For legislators to deny statewide support or say this is not a priority for the State is ludicrous.

Anonymous said...

Let's work on the sugar and fat ban to fight diabetes and obesity! Governments know what is good for you!

Anonymous said...

It's about time Wisconsin take a leading role in promoting a healthy lifestlye instead of leading the nation with the most overweight people. Create a smoke free environment for those who do not want to be exposed to the 4,000 toxic chemicals. My children have not been able to enjoy bowling because I will not permit them to be exposed to the smoke in the bowling alley. The fumes are still there days after the smoking crowd has left. My children are too precious to me to deliberately harm them. Keep Wisconsin air clean so we all can freely enjoy it. Those who want to smoke can continue to do so in a place where they cannot harm anyone else. Driving while under the influence of alcohol is illegal because of potential harm that may come. Drinking in your own home where no one else can get hurt is acceptable. Why not treat smoking the same way?

Anonymous said...

QUOTE...
As a bar owner, I am tired of the government telling me what I can and can't do with my business. I am a non-smoker, but many of our customers are smokers so we deal with that by having a state of the art air cleaning filtration system. By becoming a non-smoking bar we will lose many loyal, local customers, and I guarantee we will not gain any. What's wrong with the way things are now? Most restaurants have a smoking and non-smoking section; aren't we adult enough to make up our own minds as to which side we'll sit on?

Sorry....but as a dart player, please tell me which bars that I can visit to play darts that are non-smoking? You've lost my business, and my team business if you don't offer me a non-smoking environment. You're not facing the obvious trend that this bill announces and that is Most folks do not want to breath secondary smoke in all public places!

The entire countries of Ireland, England and Italy are now smoke-free. "Forward" Wisconsin .....
....really? For a state with such a progressive historical record, we are certainly dragging our heals on this important health issue!

Please explain to me why this bill now needs until 2010 to take affect?

Sincerely,

John (Appleton Business Owner)