Deal Forged to Ban Smoking in Va. Restaurants, Bars

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 5, 2009; 12:20 PM

RICHMOND, Feb. 5 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and House Speaker William J. Howell announced a deal Thursday morning to ban smoking in restaurants and bars in Virginia, a monumental decision in a state built on the profits of cigarette sales that remains the home to the nation's largest tobacco company.

Under the agreement, which the two men finalized last night, smoking will be permitted only in private clubs but public establishments can also construct enclosed, ventilated smoking rooms for patrons.

Kaine (D) and Howell (R-Stafford) said they expect the legislation to sail through the General Assembly with bipartisan support. The Republican-controlled House General Laws Committee, which has repeatedly killed previous smoking bans, was to take up the bill later Thursday.

"This is a good thing for restaurant patrons, and it's a good thing for workers," Kaine said.

Kaine said the bill is a "good example of compromise" and "a true bipartisan achievement."

Howell also described the legislative deal as one that will satisfy both smokers and nonsmokers.

"I feel comfortable that the rights of citizens to enjoy a legal product have been protected and that the rights of citizens who don't want smoke while having their dinners have been protected as well," he said.

But Teresa T. Gregson, a lobbyist for the American Heart Association, said her organization is "not happy" about the compromise.

Gregson said the bill as drafted does not clearly state what constitutes an enclosed room. Gregson said the bill also lacks stringent penalties for patrons or establishments that violate it.

"We are disappointed they would create a bill and show it to us two hours before the press conference," said Gregson, who vowed to try to amend it. "There are problems with this bill."

The District banned smoking in bars and restaurants in 2006, and Maryland followed with a similar prohibition in 2007. This is not the first year proposals to ban smoking have been proposed in Virginia, but they have repeatedly been defeated in the Republican-controlled House, where Howell has quietly blocked attempts to allow the debate to reach the floor.

Howell told Republican House members Wednesday afternoon that he now supports a "limited" prohibition -- one that would not extend, for instance, to private clubs. Howell told the delegates he met Kaine, who has made the ban one of his top legislative priorities, and the two men agreed to move forward with a compromise.

On Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled Senate approved four bills that would outlaw smoking in bars, restaurants and public places. Howell and Kaine agreed to draft a more narrow version of the Senate bills.

Even with Kaine's and Howell's support, a smoking ban could face obstacles in the House.

In 2007, Kaine tried to slip a ban past House leaders by attaching it as an amendment to a bill. But 10 House Democrats, including House Minority Leader Ward L. Armstrong (D-Henry), helped defeat Kaine's amendment.

GOP delegates said Howell, who controls prized committee assignments, has told them they can vote freely, without fear of retribution.

"Everybody has got to make up their own mind," said House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem).

One GOP delegate, who declined to be identified because caucus meetings are supposed to be confidential, said Howell told them he was moving ahead with a proposed ban because of the looming elections.

Since 2003, Democrats have gained 11 seats. All 100 House seats are up for election in November. Democrats will take over the majority if they can pick up six seats this fall.

Public and private polls show strong support for a smoking ban, especially in the state's Democratic-leaning north, where several GOP delegates could face strong challenges this year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020501309.html

This has been going on in canada for some time.......

was this law enacted to further define the term 'irony'

isn't Virginia the state that produces a substantial proportion of American tobacco??

How did this not get laughed off the floor in seconds..

Don't they smoke inside the state legislature??

I miss the days where i could smoke a fag with my pint.

Stoopid laws.

Yeah, it's been happening slowly here. Maryland and DC already have passed smoking bans (other states as well, I just mentioned what's happened close by).

Happened in my new home town last year I think, and one establishment has already gone private to accommodate their clients that are mostly smokers. People have to pay 1 dollar to be a member per year.

I am a smoker right now but if they put the 6.00 tax on cartons I am done. Every time they raise the tax, both locally and fed side, I switch to the next cheapest brand, but pretty soon none will be cheap. So that's that for smoking unless I grow my own and I doubt I will bother.

There's been alot of that here in Tx..

one of the more innovative, I guess, compromises that some municipalities have come to is that places like bars and restaurants have to post whether or not smoking is permitted and it leaves the decision up to the individual business owners as to whether they want to allow smoking in their establishments or not..

some bars allow it and others don't

as a former smoker, it's nice to be able to go to a place and not have to breathe smoke laden air but lots of people like to smoke and drink their whiskey sours...

best of both worlds, in my opinion..

When it happened in Maryland, a few of my friends who were smokers used it to help them quit.

Honestly, I cannot wait to be able to go out and not come home smelling like an ashtray. It seemed to work fine in places nearby.

the arguement against it is that it's an attempt to legislate behavior, or if not to force the morality of some on others..

someone says, A is bad for you so we'll ban A in public..

the decision should be left to the bar and restaurant owners.. and let the people vote with their wallets.

if people stop going to the places that allow smoking in favor of those that don't, then the places that allow it will have to make a business decision..

that's the way it should be done, at least in this man's mind..

It's already banned in restaurants and bars in vermont for a couple years now. No one has gone out of business because of it. It's much nicer not to have to breath and smell the cigarette smoke of others.

In Maryland bars, people just go outside to smoke, then come back in. Same with DC and Ohio. No one seemed to have an issue with it. Places didn't go out of business because of it.

that's what I mean about forcing one person's morality on another..

if the people of the community truely want smoke-free bars, they'd be able to vote with their wallets..

otherwise, it's just restricting the liberties of one group of people for the benefit of another.

suppose they decide to ban chewing gum or strong cologne next...

You really can't compare chewing gum or cologne to smoking.

why not?? chewing gum is gross.. especially when people leave it on the ground or under a chair.. then I come along and try to pull the chair out for you at dinner because I'm a gentleman and my momma taught me right and BAM!! my hand's covered in someone else's disease ridden chewing gum..

and strong cologne?? you've never been to New Jersey, have you??

Seriously? Comparing gum and cologne to smoking?

no not really.. but the point is that it's not the business of the state to decide for the bar that it needs to disallow smoking..

why not let people decide if they want to go to a bar that allows it or not..

tell me why it's so hard to let individual businesses decide for themselves..

why do you have to have the state do it for you??

Hypocrites.


"I don't mind sitting in a bar polluting my liver....just don't smoke around me."


Seriously???


I find it truly amazing that smoking socially has been accepted for hundreds of years in america, and now all of a sudden, one lady files a lawsuit causing millions of people to question it.


sheeple....

this thread made me go look this up..

I think he should go back and watch it himself...

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7862730076018325919

Hey! I like smelling like and ashtray! Grin! Actually when you smoke you wouldn't notice it most times. It's when you haven't smoked that you notice it most. My neighbor smokes outside now because his wife quit a couple of years ago and can no longer deal with the smell of smoke.

I don't go to bars and rarely to restaurants so it wasn't a tool to quit for me. Price will be the clincher when it jumps past my ability to pay for them, which it is about to do. So that's probably the only thing that would get me to quit something I like.