Friday, February 08, 2008
Eight bills that ban public smoking die in House
The same subcommittee will consider four smoking ban bills the Senate passed Tuesday.
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From The Roanoke Times
RICHMOND -- A House subcommittee killed a series of bills Thursday to enact a smoking ban in restaurants and other buildings, likely foreshadowing the fate of similar Senate legislation.
After more than an hour of testimony from the bills' supporters and opponents, the House General Laws subcommittee on ABC and Gaming unanimously voted down eight measures that would have restricted smoking in public areas.
"It's clearly, if someone wants to go nonsmoking in a restaurant, they can do it," said subcommittee chairman Del. Tom Gear, R-Hampton, prior to the votes. "I don't think it's up to the government to intervene and tell the restaurant they have to do something. They can do it on their own."
Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, who leads the full House General Laws Committee, said she had once been in favor of a smoking ban. But in recent years, she said she's found that more and more restaurants are doing it themselves.
"Two years ago ... I couldn't find a restaurant to go to that was smoke-free," Suit said. "But because of this debate, the whole issue over the last few years has been elevated to the level that so many restaurants have gone smoke-free, I no longer believe it's necessary for government to step in and do it."
The subcommittee's actions don't bode well for a slate of four smoking ban bills that passed out of the Senate on Tuesday. They'll be sent to the same House subcommittee for consideration.
The killing of the bills also represents another defeat this year for Gov. Tim Kaine, who'd backed a smoking ban for restaurants.
"Obviously it's a disappointment," said Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey. "The governor thinks the bill he was proposing ... was a good bill. It was good for the commonwealth and good for people's health. The Senate bills are still alive, so there's always hope."
Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, pointed to a possible compromise solution, though it won't come this year. He suggested that bars and restaurants should be separated within state code, with different standards for smoking to apply to each. Currently, state law doesn't distinguish between bars and restaurants, and an establishment has to sell a certain amount of food to get its state license to sell alcoholic beverages.
The bills killed by the House subcommittee included five variations on three basic versions:
- Give localities the option to pass their own smoking bans.
- Ban smoking in restaurants.
- Prohibit smoking in most buildings or enclosed areas, excepting only private homes, cars, private clubs, motel rooms designated for smoking, specialty tobacco stores, tobacco manufacturers and certain rooms in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
The latter version of the bill was filed by three different delegates and seemed to be the most popular bill among smoking ban advocates and even the delegates carrying other versions of the ban.
Those who spoke in favor of the bills said they effectively address secondhand smoke, which they cited as a major health concern. They referenced a 2006 report issued by the U.S. Surgeon General saying there was no safe exposure to secondhand smoke. They also cited a poll released last month showing that 75 percent of Virginia voters favor a statewide law prohibiting smoking inside all public buildings and workplaces.
Julia Torres Barden of Chesterfield said the state and federal constitutions don't guarantee a right to smoke in public.
"It is not a personal-freedom issue in my opinion. It is not a free-enterprise issue. It is a health issue," Barden said. "And you're all obligated to listen and please act on our desperate plea to ask you for cleaner air."
Richmond-area musician John O'Donnell said his livelihood depends on playing in smoky restaurants and bars.
"Working musicians don't have the choice of what shows to play," O'Donnell said. "A musician can choose to play or he can choose not to play at all. ... If you think this legislation is about choice, you're missing the point: It's about health."
But opponents of the legislation argued that smoking bans trample on the liberties of those who own restaurant and workplace buildings. The free market, they said, is already moving toward smoke-free restaurants, rendering government intervention unnecessary.
Nathan Jones, a Richmond resident whose family owns 13 Buffalo Wild Wings franchises in Virginia and Indiana, said that Indiana's smoking ban caused a 10 percent to 15 percent drop in alcohol sales in the first year.
"We all know that one year with drops in sales of that magnitude can kill a small business," Jones said.
And Chris Savvides, owner of the Black Angus restaurant in Virginia Beach, said he went smoke-free on his own in 2006 after noticing the nonsmoking section was packed, while the smoking section had empty seats. But he still, under the right circumstances, will occasionally allow customers to smoke in certain sections of the restaurant, and he doesn't want the state to tamper with his ability to do so.
Savvides said he worried about the potential for both a statewide ban and the ability for localities to pass their own laws.
After all, tobacco is still legal in Virginia.
"I can plant it, I can grow it, I can harvest it, I can manufacture it, I can distribute it, I can sell it to people over 18, I can export it, tax it, chew it, spit it, dip it, snort it, smoke it, I can even bake it in brownies," Savvides said. "But if someone lights up a cigarette in my business, I'm going to get a Class 1 misdemeanor?"
The four Senate smoking ban bills won't be heard in the House subcommittee until sometime after Tuesday, which is the deadline for each legislative chamber to complete work on its own bills.
