MEMBER UPDATE: February 7, 2007 WRA Board of Directors voted to support a statewide workplace smoking ban. Dear WRA member, The time has come for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association to support a statewide "workplace" smoking ban.  WRA's board of directors has voted 36-1 to support such a ban, but it was not an easy decision to make. When it comes to regulation of smoking, the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's goal has always been to achieve a level playing field for everyone in the foodservice industry.  Our mission is to protect the industry as a whole – including those who serve alcohol and those who don't. Here are some important factors that led to this decision: Ideally, businesses should be allowed to set their own policies, but the spread of local smoking bans has made it clear that those days are behind us. More and more WRA members are asking for a statewide smoking ban to level the playing field.  Many say that they would like to ban smoking on their own, but they can't go it alone.  They feel they would be able to keep most of their smoking customers if the government banned smoking, but not if they did it. There are already 30 local smoking bans in place in cities across Wisconsin, and many more are expected to pass in the next couple of years.  Most of the local smoking bans give taverns a competitive advantage by exempting them. There are only two paths to a level playing field on smoking.  One is no regulation at all, and the other is a complete ban.  Anything in between unfairly creates winners and losers, with government regulations causing some businesses to thrive and others to perish. Twenty years ago, WRA worked with Senator Fred Risser to pass the Clean Indoor Air Act, which required non-smoking sections in all restaurants.  It retained flexibility for restaurant operators to meet the demands of their customers for both smoking and non-smoking seating.  It also bought our industry 20 years to prepare for the smoking ban that is to come. In 2005, WRA supported the Smoke Free Dining Act, which would have eliminated smoking in all dining rooms, but allowed smoking in bar areas only.  This bill would have preempted local smoking ordinances and put restaurants and taverns statewide on a roughly level playing field.  The bill failed to pass the state Senate and was opposed by Governor Jim Doyle. State preemption of local smoking bans is now a political impossibility.  It couldn't pass a Republican-controlled Senate, and Democrats have since won the majority.  It is now very clear that there will never again be a level playing field that includes smoking in restaurants. 26 states already ban smoking in restaurants.  Just two years ago, there were only a handful of states with such bans. With the enactment of Nevada's ban, 52% of Americans now live in cities or states that ban smoking in all restaurants. Of 42 directors on the WRA Board, 76% have alcohol licenses and 83% represent small independent businesses.  They will be personally impacted by the smoking ban – just like you – but they determined this was the best course of action for the long-term good of our industry. Restaurants in Wisconsin have steadily reduced smoking on their own for more than 30 years now.  A majority of WRA members have banned smoking already – either voluntarily or because of local smoking bans.  Many of the rest have reduced their smoking sections to only a few tables or limited smoking to their bar areas only. WRA members in Madison and Appleton, the two cities with workplace bans in place already, are reporting increases in food sales and minimal losses in bar sales.  Many believe they would not have lost any of their bar sales if smoking customers hadn't been able to drive out of the city to another establishment to smoke.  Some actually reported gains in bar business after the ban. WRA remains staunchly opposed to local smoking bans, and will continue to fight in that arena.  Sincerely, Ed Lump WRA President