Tommy's comment.
More on the travels.

Thompson uses his veto pen to make the preemption as bad as possible.
Thompson uses his veto pen to reduce tobacco control board money and to give him full control of its make-up.

A Brief Summary

Social Relations with Philip Morris Executives: Thompson took three international vacations at the expense of Philip Morris, going to Europe, southern Africa, and Australia. In Australia he went scuba diving with PM lobbyist John C. Lenzi. Lenzi reported lobbying activity for that time period to the Wisconsin Ethics Board. Lenzi had just worked to kill a local control bill (1995 Assembly Bill 516) sponsored by a conservative Republican which had about half of the legislature as cosigners.
Philip Morris executive Andrew Whist has invited Thompson to many other social engagements.

Campaign Finance: According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan group that works on campaign finance issues, Philip Morris executives are the leading contributors of large contributions to Thompson. Whist is the leading contributor among Philip Morris executives.

Smokefree Issues: In 1983 as minority leader, Thompson tried to defeat Sen. Fred Risser's (D-Madison) Clean Indoor Air Act. This legislation took several sessions to pass. In February 1984, he offered an amendment, which was defeated, in which all restaurants and not just those with 50% or more alcohol would be exempted. Then he offered an amendment which apparently would have exempted virtually all businesses. Finally, after the measure passed, he asked for a reconsideration. In the mid 90's comprehensive smokefree legislation offered by Sen. Risser floundered without his support. Additionally, he vetoed a ban on smoking in the Milwaukee Brewers new park even though virtually all other major league teams were already smokefree. He was concerned because the naming rights were going to Philip Morris operating company. The stadium is named Miller Park. In this last session a bill that only banned smoking in the capitol and its immediate vicinity finally passed. Thompson did sign it.

Excise Taxes. In 1991 Thompson vetoed a 10 cent per pack increase which he viewed as excessive. In 1997, he only supported a 5 cent increase when Philip Morris/Miller executive Paul Lucas objected to a double digit increase. Some assembly Republicans were willing to go along with a 16 cent increase. The health groups were pushing to raise the tax from 44 cents to $1.00. He later signed a 15 cent increase.

Preemption: In 1988 (1987 Wisconsin Act 336), he signed poorly drafted language that required local ordinances to be in strict conformity with a bad state law, Wi 134.66(5). The next session he vetoed budget language that would have allowed local communities to ban the free distribution of cigarettes, saying that such measures should not be in the budget but should be stand alone measures. In contrast, this session his staff and other government officials worked with Philip Morris lobbyists Scott Stenger and Kelly McDowell as well as Wisconsin Grocers lobbyist Brandon Scholz to preempt the ability to enforce the law that makes it illegal to sell tobacco to minors. He then appointed Scholz to the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board (WTCB).

Youth Smoking Issues and Data: During the 1987-1988 session signed legislation which preempted local communities from passing stricter laws. So, for example, local communities cannot pass legislation which would ban cigarette vending machines. In 1999 his people worked with the tobacco industry to eliminate all enforcement of the youth access law. This is in spite of the fact that high ranking DHFS officials said that Wisconsin was in complete compliance with Synar and new legislation was not necessary. Thompson then used his veto power to wipe out the grandfathered Madison ordinance. Afterwards, top DHFS officials supported legislation introduced by State Sen. Judy Robson (D-Beloit) that would have corrected the budget language because Wisconsin was now out of compliance with Synar. That went nowhere.
Data from DHFS has repeatedly shown that Wisconsin is doing extremely poorly with respect to reducing youth smoking. Data from UCSD et al showed that Wisconsin was near the bottom with respect to young people's smoking prevalence.
Data from Wisconsin Project ASSIST show that none of its goals will be met.

This fact sheet presented by:

SmokeFree Pennsylvania
n P.O. Box 81570 n Pittsburgh, PA 15217 n 412-421-0500 n FAX 351-5881n Bill Godshall Executive Director n bill@smokescreen.org

Wisconsin Initiative on Smoking and Health (WISH)
n 2900 W. Rangeline Court n Mequon, WI 53092 n 262-512-0672 n FAX 512-0673n Bonnie Sumner President n bonch1545@aol.com

Tobacco BBS
n P.O. Box 359 n New York, NY 10014 n 212-982-4645 n Gene Borio ngeneb@tobacco.org