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Proposed Ban on Smoking in Public Places Fails

Posted on: Friday, 24 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Mike Gruss, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Feb. 24--RICHMOND � A proposal to ban smoking in Virginia�s restaurants and other public places has been snuffed out .

Despite concessions to the hotel and tourism industry a day earlier, delegates on the General Laws subcommittee Thursday unanimously killed SB648 . The vote ended a two-week flare-up for one of the General Assembly�s most talked-about bills.

The Senate passed a broader version of the Indoor Clean Air Act on Feb. 13 and created a furor, given Virginia�s long history with tobacco. The cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris makes its home in the Richmond area .

Since then, delegates on the subcommittee were swamped with phone calls, e-mails and letters.

Thursday evening, members from the more libertarian

House of Delegates said a smoking ban overstepped government boundaries and interfered with businesses.

�Why do you need a law to protect people when people can protect themselves by not going in� restaurants that allow smoking, said Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax .

Sen. J. Brandon Bell II, R-Roanoke, who sponsored the legislation, said the public has a right to avoid the dangers of cigarette smoke. He read an e-mail from a man whose wife died of secondhand smoke and provided a series of statistics about its effects.

�We don�t want our children and families exposed to this,� he said.

Supporters asked the subcommittee to report the smoking ban to the full General Laws committee and allow the larger group to decide the issue. Under new House rules this year, subcommittees can kill legislation.

Matt Falvey, a Virginia Beach restaurateur who owns Hot Tuna, Shore Break and Peabody�s, was among those Thursday who asked for a hearing before the full General Laws committee.

Falvey supported the bill but feared that self-declared nonsmoking eateries would lose business. Diners could leave a nonsmoking restaurant to appease a single smoker in the group, he said. Instead, a state-imposed smoking ban would create a �level playing field.�

Del. Thomas Wright, R-Lunenburg , said there�s no law stopping private businesses from declaring themselves as nonsmoking institutions and called the argument �disingenuous.�

�You have the ability to do so right now,� he said. �The public is going to get what they want. I think it should be on a voluntary basis.�

Ten states and the District of Columbia ban smoking for working places including restaurants and bars, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

On Wednesday, Bell amended SB648 to give more flexibility to hotel and motel owners in determining the percentage of smoking and nonsmoking rooms. In exchange, the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association agreed to drop its opposition to the bill.

It wasn�t enough.

�They�re trampling on the rights of smokers,� said Steven Pearson, a lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C. �We�ve got a policy that works now. People understand it.�

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, in his weekly radio show, also opposed the bill and said he supported voluntary smoking bans for businesses.

Reach Mike Gruss at (804) 697-1563 or mike.gruss@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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