IN QUICK VOTE, SENATE MOVES TO EASE BREWER LAW

Some miffed as favor for British beer giant Bass slips into bill with no
deliberation on hectic day

Madison -- With a minimum of debate, and against a backdrop of confusion,
state senators poured a favor for a giant British brewer -Bass Plc -- that
also owns hotels, restaurants, taverns and gambling businesses worldwide.

Officials said Friday that the vote would rewrite a law passed after the
repeal of Prohibition, allowing a brewer to own, manage or invest in
Wisconsin hotels with more than 100 rooms as long as the brewer does not
sell its own beer in its hotels' bars.

Although Bass alone is pushing for the change, the rewrite would give all
other brewers -- Miller, Anheuser-Busch or even a small regional brewer --
the same hotel-ownership option.

But the fairly simple change Bass wants made in state law was obscured
Friday by debate over how it was presented and passed, a way that state
Sen. Tim Weeden (R-Beloit) called a "little quickie that somebody
successfully slid in."

Bass, which owns the Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotel chains, is
considering building hotels or resorts in Wisconsin but won't do so until
state law is changed, Bass lawyer Bill Schreiber said. The chains' hotels
in Wisconsin are now owned by franchisees, not Bass.

Wisconsin is one of the last states to forbid brewers to own hotels with
tavern licenses. The law was one of several passed in 1933 to prevent
alcohol manufacturers from dominating wholesale and retail markets for
their products, Schreiber said.

The favor for Bass was quietly added to a separate bill Thursday, a
marathon day that saw the Senate act on more than 50 bills, dozens of
amendments and 11 appointments.

On Thursday, confused and angry senators often lost their place and
patience. With the Senate equally split between 16 Democrats and 16
Republicans and neither party really in charge, Senate leaders angrily
scrambled to push pet bills through the Legislature, which has only one
week left in its regular session.

Sen. Roger Breske (D-Town of Eland) added the Bass provision to a bill
allowing cities to accept gifts from brewers to help pay for summer
festivals. West Allis, for example, favored that change, one senator said.

After Breske moved to add the Bass favor to the original bill, the measure
passed on a voice vote.

But Weeden said, "Nobody knew anything about it when it was adopted."

Breske's change "didn't have any relationship to the original bill," Weeden
said Friday. "It just became a vehicle for somebody to get a personal favor
done.

"It went through very quickly. I don't know whether this is good or not . .
and nobody (in the Senate) seemed to be able to answer any questions."
Weeden noted that no public hearing was held on the change.

Later, Sen. Brian Rude (R-Coon Valley) asked that the Senate back up and
reconsider Breske's amendment. Few senators had been briefed on it and knew
exactly what it did, Rude complained.

On a 16-16 tie, the Senate refused to reconsider, sending the bill -and the
favor for Bass -- to the Assembly. The bill's chances in the Assembly were
unclear Friday.

Breske said he did nothing improper by quickly offering the amendment to
help Bass.

"It's economic development," Breske said. "It's good for everybody."

Even though his amendment came up quickly and passed on a voice vote
without debate, Breske said he thought all 32 senators knew what they were
voting on.

"I think everybody should have known and understood it," Breske said.

Breske said he sponsored the amendment at the request of Bass lobbyist
Scott Stenger, who also is the lobbyist for the Tavern League of Wisconsin.
Breske was president of the Tavern League before his election to the
Senate.

Stenger said he met with Breske and Sen. Bob Welch (R-Redgranite) on the
change requested by Bass.

"There was no 'quickie' here," Stenger said. "I don't think (Breske) pulled
a fast one."

Welch said that what Bass wants "seems to be a reasonable exception" to
current law, so he backed Breske's amendment and argued for it. "It just
makes a narrow exception."

Still, Welch added, there is no dispute that the favor for Bass came up quickly.

"It was a wild day," Welch said of Thursday's Senate votes. "We had so many
bills.

"I think Tim Weeden is right to say this was brought up in a fast manner.
It's wrong, it's unacceptable. But once you're sitting there on the Senate
floor, you don't get a chance to vote 'maybe.' "

The change angered some legislators more because it came only months after
another liquor-law change, pushed by the Tavern League, that required local
governments to charge $10,000 for new liquor licenses. Some local
governments are refusing to charge the new fee.

But Breske and Stenger said the change approved Thursday had nothing to do
with the still-simmering controversy over the cost of new liquor licenses.

The Bass change "has nothing really to do with the Tavern League," Breske said.

Gov. Tommy Thompson was not personally told of the change Bass wants made,
although Stenger met with the governor's chief lobbyist weeks ago to
explain it, a Thompson aide said.

Nor was state Revenue Secretary Cate Zeuske, whose agency enforces liquor
laws, aware that Breske and Stenger would push the change Thursday.

"I didn't know about it until late (Thursday) afternoon," when it was
finally passed by the Senate, Zeuske said.

Like Thompson, Zeuske said she had no position on the change. "If the
Legislature wants to do that, fine," she said.