Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Panel reviews smoking ban effort
Kaine's push to develop a definition of restaurant could help him tailor a new smoking proposal.
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From The Roanoke Times
RICHMOND -- A state legislative commission on Tuesday waded into the debate over banning smoking in restaurants, seeking consensus on an issue that has divided lawmakers for the past two years.
The General Assembly's Joint Commission on Administrative Rules briefly reviewed an ongoing effort by Gov. Tim Kaine's administration to craft a new state code definition for restaurants. That effort could be a first step toward a proposed restaurant smoking ban, which Kaine has all but promised to pursue in 2008.
Anticipating such a proposal, members of the legislative commission said they want to understand all they can about the issue before it rears its head again next year.
"Let's take some time during the off-season to take a look at the unintended consequences," said Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, the commission's chairman.
But one member of the panel predicted the smoking ban will go nowhere soon in the House of Delegates.
"I don't believe any bill will get out of committee for the next four years," said House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who was at the center of the debate over the issue this year.
Another Roanoke Valley lawmaker, Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, led efforts for a smoking ban that would have applied to most indoor public places. The bill cleared the Senate but died in the House. Bell's re-election hopes ended last month when he lost a GOP primary to Ralph Smith.
Griffith sponsored a bill that would have eliminated requirements for restaurants to have nonsmoking sections and prevented them from allowing smoking unless they posted "smoking permitted" signs at every entrance.
After the House and Senate passed the bill, Kaine amended it to impose an outright restaurant smoking ban. The House rejected the amendment after Griffith argued that it would have applied to venues such as hot dog stands and catered events that fall under the state's definition of restaurant. Kaine later vetoed the bill.
Griffith said his original bill would have created market pressure on restaurants to ban smoking.
"It's too complicated to explain in a 10-second sound bite, and therefore the bill was vilified," Griffith said. "I think it is a good approach that would have done more to make restaurants smoke-free than anything that has been proposed in the last 10 years."
Department of Health Commissioner Robert Stroube has since assembled a work group to develop a definition of restaurant that could help Kaine tailor a new smoking ban proposal next year. Representatives of the state's restaurant industry have been involved in that effort.
But Tom Lisk, legal counsel for the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, said lawmakers should not single out restaurants.
"If this is indeed a public health issue worthy of your attention and imposing restrictions on business, we think it should be appropriately directed at all businesses," Lisk said.
Lisk said the restaurant industry already "is responding in a very direct and meaningful way and with increasing speed" to public demands for smoke-free environments.
Supporters of a smoking ban argue that legislation is needed to protect both customers and workers. Cathleen Smith Grzesiek, the state director of advocacy for the American Heart Association, said the push for a ban will continue in the 2008 legislative session
"The momentum is only going to grow with public pressure," she said.
