Smoking ban advances

VIDEO: Legislators discuss smoking ban

The Republican-controlled House of Delegates -- the last barrier to a further clampdown on smoking in public -- could vote as early as Monday to ban lighting up in restaurants and bars across a state built in part on the riches of tobacco.

Heralded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as an advancement for public health, the proposed smoking prohibition -- already favored by the Virginia Senate -- would represent an expansion of restrictions enacted more than a decade ago that were written largely by tobacco interests.

The new rules, however, and their narrow limitations quickly drew fire from health advocates as weak and from restaurateurs as government meddling in the marketplace.

"This is a political issue, not a health issue," said Thomas Lisk, a lawyer-lobbyist for the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association.

The prohibition would make exceptions for private clubs and restaurants with a designated smoking room that is physically separated and independently ventilated from non-smoking dining areas. It also would exclude any permanent outdoor patio area of a restaurant, any portion of a restaurant used just for private functions, and streetside mobile food stands.

Violators would be subject to a fine of no more than $25.

The new restrictions would be a breakthrough for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat who unsuccessfully has sought additional regulations on smoking in public since he took office in 2006.

For Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, whose House is depicted by opponents as obstructionist, the measure could prove a vote-getter this fall for imperiled GOP delegates in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Kaine said, "This is a big step forward for public health in an environment where secondhand smoke effects concentrate and really cause serious health problems."

Turning its back on the wealthy cigarette and tourism lobbies, the House Republican Caucus had come under pressure to appear in step with increasingly Democratic suburban voters. Roughly half of the GOP caucus signaled in a secret vote that it favored restrictions on smoking.

Those votes, paired with the bulk of House Democrats, could ensure passage.

In the course of a day, Howell and Kaine announced they had forged a compromise on a smoking ban, and by the afternoon, House Bill 1703 was approved 16-6 by a House General Laws Committee traditionally hostile to efforts to halt smoking in eateries.

In front of the panel, doctors pleaded for its passing; a restaurant owner from Hampton Roads called for its demise; the restaurant lobby threatened closures; and groups that have been pushing for a ban -- the American Lung Association, among them -- expressed grave concerns that it didn't go far enough.

Some of those concerns were eased by amendments requiring that smoky air cannot be redistributed to the nonsmoking section, and that people not be forced to walk through the smoking area to get to the nonsmoking room.

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High-dollar restaurants and chains may be able to meet all the stipulations, but new walls and air systems could push mom-and-pop shops out of business, critics argue.

Others argue that the one change would save lives. Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 1,700 deaths per year, according to the Virginia Department of Health. In addition, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimates the commonwealth spends $113 million a year on health-care expenditures related to exposure to secondhand smoke.

A separate assault on tobacco -- Kaine's proposal to double the cigarette tax to pay for health care -- has been thwarted, led by Henrico County-based cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA.

The company also opposes the restrictions on smoking. David Sutton, a Philip Morris spokesman, said every restaurant in Virginia currently has the right to limit smoking on its own without a government mandate.

"While this bill attempts to provide a compromise, we believe that some of the provisions go too far," he said.

"This bill would impose significant costs in a very difficult economy on business owners that would like to accommodate smokers in their establishments."

Sutton declined to comment on the extent to which Philip Morris USA was involved in discussions over a compromise on the indoor-smoking issue.

"On this issue and all the others that are relevant to the company . . . we continue to make our views known to elected officials," he said. "It is something we want to continue to talk about."

Howell said he thinks a compromise was forged this year because "both sides were willing to yield." In addition, state legislators, in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle, proposed 14 smoking-ban bills this year, according to Kaine's office.

When asked yesterday if it had something to do with this being an election year -- all 100 seats in the House are up for election -- Howell gave a drawn-out "no."

"The compromise strikes a fair balance between the rights of smokers who choose to enjoy a legal product and the rights of other individuals who want to enjoy a smoke-free environment when eating at a restaurant," Howell said.

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Twenty-three other states, including Maryland, have passed bans on smoking indoors at bars and restaurants, as have the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

In Virginia, smoking was banned in all state buildings and vehicles under an executive order signed in 2006 by Kaine.

Outside Capitol Square, the debate among politicians caught the attention of smokers and nonsmokers.

"If it bothered me I would sit someplace else," said nonsmoker Tommy Hicks, a defender of smokers' rights. "It's a conscious decision I make."

Sitting at the bar at Richbrau Brewing Co., Hicks said of Kaine, "When he cuts down on emissions from vehicles and other stuff killing us, then he can tell us not to smoke."

Down the bar from Hicks, smoker Heather Fletcher was surprised to hear about the restrictions.

"I think that it will help me quit," she said. "We're conscious of other people. We don't smoke if it bothers people."

Among some of the Republican Party's key conservative allies, there was dismay -- a feeling that the GOP is surrendering to a big-government impulse.

"The activists [Howell] will depend on this fall, many of whom are members of groups like ours, will not be pleased that he has caved," said Ben Marchi of Americans for Prosperity.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .

Contact Jeff Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or .

Staff writers Tyler Whitley, Lisa Crutchfield and John Reid Blackwell contributed to this report.