The Smoking Ban

A few weeks ago Rep. Garthwaite voted against Senate Bill 181, which bans smoking in all Wisconsin businesses and public places. To his credit this vote was consistent with his stance during the last campaign, however, I cannot fully applaud Rep. Garthwaite for standing up for his beliefs. Here is why.

The smoking ban was driven by the leaders of the Democrat controlled legislature in Madison but was a bi-partisan bill. Many Republicans in the Assembly voted in favor of the bill. This meant that Rep. Garthwaite could vote against the bill without harming the wishes of his Democrat bosses in Madison. After all, his vote against the ban would be canceled out by a GOP vote in favor of the ban. When it came time for votes on amendments, however, things weren't so simple.

SB 181 contained an odd caveat that would make Wisconsin unique amongst states with smoking bans. It would prohibit smoking in 100% of all hotel rooms. Roughly half of the states in the US currently have some sort of statewide smoking prohibition in place, however, all of them either ignore hotels or allow for a certain percentage of rooms to have smoking. Most commonly, states allow for a hotel owner to keep up to 25% of his or her rooms smoking. Iowa does this as does Illinois. The Democrat drafted Wisconsin ban, however, prohibits Wisconsin innkeepers from allowing smoking in any rooms. It even makes it illegal for the Innkeeper to smoke in their own room or home if they happen to live on premises.

The affect that this total prohibition will have in Wisconsin is two-fold. Smokers who choose or are forced to stay in Wisconsin hotels will simply smoke in non-smoking rooms. What is to stop them? This means that non-smokers like myself will have to suffer the terrible stench that is a smoky hotel room.

The second affect of this provision will be to reduce business to Wisconsin’s hotels, especially in border areas like Grant County. Why would a smoker stop at the Governor Dodge Hotel and Convention Center in Platteville when they can drive another 35 minutes and get a smoking room at the Holiday Inn in Dubuque?

To correct this problem, Assembly Republicans introduced an amendment to let hotels allow smoking in a small percentage of their rooms. When this amendment was brought to the floor of the Assembly, the Democrat leadership in Madison motioned to kill it but enough Democrats from Rural areas sided with Republicans to keep the amendment alive. Unfortunately, the Madison liberal elite then called for the Assembly to go informal, a pause in debate where leadership can speak with their members. The Democrat leadership from Madison used this time to browbeat their rural members into voting to kill the amendment. A few minutes later the amendment died by a vote of 50-48.

Phil Garthwaite was the deciding vote to create a major disadvantage for Grant County inn keepers and a huge advantage for the hotels and motels in nearby Illinois and Iowa. If you don’t believe me, please see the vote. The facts speak for themselves. It’s available for all the public to view on the legislature’s webpage. You can see the history of the smoking ban bill here and the vote on this amendment here

Rep. Garthwaite then voted to allow smoking in Indian Casinos in Wisconsin, thus giving the Tribes a monopoly on smoking customers. It must be noted that Indian Tribes such as the Ho Chunk Nation were major contributors to third party groups that ran issue ads in favor of Rep. Garthwaite during the last election. Rep. Garthwaite also voted against allowing Veterans to smoke in their private clubs such as American Legion and VFW posts. Here is the vote to prove it.

At the end of the day, what does this mean? It means that Rep. Garthwaite can be trusted to stick to his word when he votes on issues that are supported by a majority of Reps. in Madison. Unfortunately for the voters of Southwest Wisconsin, it also means that Rep. Garthwaite cannot be counted on to vote in the interest of his constituents when the liberal Madison elite who control the Assembly need his vote. To reiterate, if Rep Garthwaite had stood for SW Wisconsin, hotels in the area would not have been put at a disadvantage in comparison to their counterparts in nearby Iowa or Illinois. His vote was the deciding vote to kill an amendment that would have helped his district.


Just the Facts:

Rep. Garthwaite voted against SB 181 – a bill to ban smoking.

If you support banning smoking in public places such as restaurants and taverns then Rep. Garthwaite voted against your interests.

If you oppose banning smoking in public places such as restaurants and taverns then Rep. Garthwaite voted in your interests.

If you own or work in a hotel in SW Wisconsin then Rep. Garthwaite voted against your job and livelihood.

If you think that it is unfair that Indian Tribes are given a monopoly on smoking in taverns in Wisconsin then Rep. Garthwaite voted against your beliefs.

If you are a Veteran or believe that Veterans have earned the right to smoke in their private clubs then Rep. Garthwaite voted against you.