There’s no reason why the Legislature can’t vote next week to ban smoking statewide and force insurance companies to cover autism, Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday.

Even though Doyle called on the Legislature to pass both proposals, that is highly unlikely to happen next week given strong opposition to each and where the bills are in the process.

One of the biggest sticking points with the smoking bill is what to do with taverns. They don’t want to be included in the ban, which would apply to all bars, restaurants and workplaces.

Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Schofield, has said he wouldn’t bring the bill up for a vote until there is a compromise.

There is no proposal in the Republican-controlled Assembly. Its leaders are waiting to see what happens in the Senate before acting.

Two senators working on reaching a deal _ Roger Breske, D-Eland, and Fred Risser, D-Madison _ met on Monday and promised to talk again Wednesday. Breske, who wants an exemption for taverns, said he and Risser agreed not to talk about their discussions for now. One possible solution would be to phase-in the exemption for taverns.

“I feel that there is room for an agreement without causing undo harm to small business owners,” Breske said. “We all know it’s going to come down the road, but why do we have to shove it down their throat?”

Doyle said Wisconsin must act quickly to avoid becoming the “ashtray of the upper Midwest.” Both Illinois and Minnesota have recently passed comprehensive smoking bans.

It’s time for Wisconsin to join with 22 other states that ban smoking in bars and restaurants, said Aaron Doeppers, director of the Midwest region of the anti-smoking group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Doyle held news conferences Madison, South Milwaukee and Oneida to turn up the heat on the autism and smoking issues, both of which he has been advocating for a long time.

Requiring insurance companies to cover autism treatment, which advocates say is crucial in order for families to get services they need in time to have a dramatic impact on their children’s development, was in Doyle’s budget submitted in February. However, it was removed during the negotiations and opposed by Republicans.

A separate bill is before the Legislature’s budget committee. It won’t be acted on in the Senate until after it has a hearing, said Decker’s spokeswoman Carrie Lynch.

Even in the unlikely event that happens before next week, the proposal faces an uphill battle in the Assembly. Assembly Majority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, opposes mandating autism coverage because it could lead to higher insurance rates, said his spokesman Jim Bender.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business group, and America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents more than 1,300 insurance companies, also oppose the proposal.

Insurance companies fear the requirement will lead to higher insurance costs that prompt small businesses to drop their coverage.

Most insurance companies don’t cover autism because it is classified as an emotional disorder rather than a neurological medical condition. As a result, many people now wait more than a year for state services that treat delayed speech and other social and motor skill problems characteristic of autism.

Mike Crute’s son was diagnosed with autism but the wait for state services was so long, the Middleton man started paying for treatment for his 4-year-old on his own. After he started his own business, Crute said he was denied health insurance because of his son’s pre-existing condition.

Crute, who appeared with Doyle at his Madison news conference, said if something isn’t done soon an entire generation of autistic children will have been left behind.

Nationwide, about 560,000 people under age 21 are autistic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 1 in 200 children have autism in Wisconsin, according to Doyle’s office.

The proposal the governor is pushing is law in 18 other states.