The state Assembly will begin debating a bill that, if passed, would ban smoking in and around University of Wisconsin System dormitories and residence halls, resulting in a financial penalty if violated.
The bill would also prohibit smoking within 25 feet of the residence halls.
Seventy-five percent of Wisconsin residents do not smoke, said state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, a co-sponsor of the bill.
\It's not fair that 25 percent should interfere with 75 percent,"" he said.
UW-Madison, unlike some UW System schools, already has a non-smoking policy for dormitories and residence halls. However, according to Risser, should this bill pass, students would also be subject to penalty under state law, resulting in a $10 fine.
""If you broke the law [at UW-Madison], you'd be subject to the penalties in the law,"" he said. ""The fact that we already exercise this by policy isn't going to make any difference. The law is still the law.""
State Rep. Mark Miller, D-Monona, who introduced the bill with 18 other representatives, said he strongly supports keeping smoking out of public living areas. He added he thinks there will be bi-partisan support for the bill.
Risser agreed, saying the health of Wisconsin residents crosses party lines.
""Smoking regulation is not Democratic or Republican. You have people on both parties that feel both ways about it,"" he said.
Risser said Madison is already starting to tighten smoking in area restaurants, referencing the city's smoking ordinance that requires establishments deriving less than 33 percent of their sales from alcoholic beverages to be smoke-free by 2005. The ordinance also requires establishments deriving less than 50 percent of sales from alcohol to be smoke-free by 2006.
He said it is also important to focus on the state's younger residents.
""If you keep people from smoking at a young age, chances are they won't pick up the habit later on,"" he said.
There are only 10 days left in the legislative session, and Risser and Miller said that may not be enough time for the bill to become law.
Any slight interference with the bill's progress would end hopes of it getting passed this session, according to Miller.
