RICHMOND – A bipartisan group of General Assembly legislators unveiled a poll this morning that shows 71 percent of Virginians favor a statewide law to prohibit smoking in most public places, including bars and restaurants.

Sixty percent of registered voters polled by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research said they “strongly favor” such a bill, and 11 percent “somewhat favor” it. Twenty-nine percent oppose the bill, including 18 percent who “strongly oppose” it.

Last year, Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, carried a bill that would have banned smoking in public places to passage in the Virginia Senate, but it was unanimously killed by a House of Delegates subcommittee. This year, however, House Republicans are introducing supporting legislation.

At today's press conference, Bell was joined by Dels. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, Algie Howell, D-Norfolk, and Vince Callahan, R-Fairfax County. Callahan, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, called tobacco smoke a “curse on our society” and said secondhand smoke is a public health issue that must be tackled. All three of those delegates have introduced versions of the “Smoke Free Air Act” in the House, while has reintroduced his bill in the Senate.

In addition, House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who was not at the press conference, has introduced a bill that would prohibit restaurants from allowing smoking unless they post signs at all public entrances indicating that smoking is permitted.

Read more about this issue at smokefreevanow.org