Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Contact: (414) 224-8280 Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 Author: Steven Walters of the Journal Sentinel Staff 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.