Governor promises quick signature on smoking ban
Bob Brown/Times-Dispatch
Smoking bill sponsors Sen. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, (left) and Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake. listen to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday.
Virginia, which 400 years ago helped found a nation on the leafy cash crop of tobacco, yesterday took a significant step toward smoke-free restaurants and bars.
Lawmakers passed and sent to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine a measure that restricts smoking in restaurants to ones with rooms that are ventilated separately and to private clubs.
Kaine, who in 2006 had issued an executive order banning smoking in state government buildings, said he will sign the legislation.
"I think it will be signed quite swiftly -- in the quickest-drying ink I can find," Kaine said outside his office.
The Democratic-controlled state Senate voted 27-13 to pass Senate Bill 1105. The tally in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates was 60-39.
An identical piece of legislation, House Bill 1703, cleared a Senate committee yesterday and also is on track for approval.
Kaine lauded the legislature's bipartisan support for the bills, and the measures' sponsors -- Sen. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, and Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake.
"It's a very significant accomplishment."
Twenty-three other states and Puerto Rico have passed bans on smoking indoors at bars and restaurants.
"Historically it is a step, but one in which Virginia is in accord with a lot of other states," Kaine said. "We're never going to solve the nation's health-care challenges if we don't start off tackling the nation's health challenges."
Information released by Kaine's office suggested that Virginia's new ban would be the toughest among the nation's top five tobacco-producing states, which also include North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee. Among them, only Tennessee has a statewide ban, which exempts private clubs and any establishments that require proof of age to enter.
Over the years, legislative attempts to extinguish smoking in public have had little success in Virginia, headquarters of Philip Morris USA, the Henrico County-based tobacco giant.
"Every restaurant in Virginia already had the right to ban smoking on their own" and many did, said Bill Phelps, a Philip Morris USA spokesman.
Hilton Oliver of the Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, or Virginia GASP, called it "a pretty good bill under the circumstances."
Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, had worked out the bill's details with Kaine.
Yesterday the House of Delegates passed the bill without debate. Thirty-two of the 53 Republicans, including House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, defied Howell and voted against the measure.
The legislation is "something whose time has come," Cosgrove said. "I voted against it last year. Even hard-core Republicans back home were telling me, 'We like what you're doing in Richmond, but you need to pass a smoking bill.'"
Del. Terry G. Kilgore, R-Scott, who had offered amendments to try to weaken the bill, said the public sentiment favors a smoking ban.
"One thing I have learned in politics is, don't get in front of a train," Kilgore said.
This year -- with all 100 members of the House up for re-election -- Howell sent signals that the Republican leadership might be willing to forge a compromise on the issue.
Howell met with Kaine, and along with Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, and Northam and Cosgrove, began work on a compromise.
Dissident Republicans, led by Kilgore, attempted to filter the bill with amendments that would have allowed smoking when minors are not present and in areas separated by a door and without independent ventilation. But further negotiation convinced House leaders there was enough GOP support for the measure.
The governor has struggled with opposition in the House and with a deep national recession that has forced cuts to the state budget and tamped down many of his initiatives.
Yesterday, Kaine ranked the smoking ban with previous legislative successes such as last year's higher-education bond package; the expansion of pre-kindergarten programs; and reforms to the mental-health system following the Virginia Tech shootings.
More restrictive smoking bills that cleared the Senate earlier this year were killed in the House. Asked whether the restaurant ban could be the beginning of an expansion of anti-smoking initiatives, Kaine said momentum is building.
"I don't know," he said. "That's going to be another legislature and another governor wrestling with that."
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or
.
Staff writer Tyler Whitley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Reader Reactions
This is a free county? Sadly that’s not likely to remain.
Grant—The point I was trying to make is, while it is admirable to use the words of our founding fathers as a foundation, it is unrealistic to think those great men would have flatly opposed any modification of their original principals had those men been witness to the changing times and conditions of our society as it has
evolved through today. And while
I was not referring to the Constitution specifically, since you bring that up, how about this quote from your man Ben Franklin: “Our new constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in the world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.“ Seems to me that Mr Franklin himself was acknowledging the fact that time and a changing world could affect the application of those words written so long ago, and modification of those
original principals was a probability.
jackcrowx- just what was my insult? That I assumed you voted for Obama? Or the fattie’s comment? Have you been to a restaurant or the mall lately. Or maybe you stay home in your room like you suggest I do? And now you want to also set the agenda on what’s to discuss today? I made my arguments in an earlier post. Now I am just fed up. And, for now this at lease, this is a free country and open message board.
I guess you smoking ban proponents also missed the article from a Va. professor last week saying 90% of Virginians already live in localities in which the majority of restaurants are smoke free. Guess that wasn’t enough! I usually ask for the smoking section even though I don’t smoke because there are usually less obnoxious children to deal with there. The ones with the same parents complaining about smoke & the health of their children but without the courtesy to control their kids in a public place. I’m headed out to get the biggest cigar I can buy and then to a crowded restaurant. I’ve got until Dec 1st.
All this because you have to smoke in your own room and not bother non-smokers. Is it really worth all this gnashing of teeth? Just because you have to occupy another room from me to smoke? You even get your own AC and heat unit! You won’t lose any precious smoke to people who didn’t pay for it like myself.
bw - like Grant said. Today we talk about smoking. So I’d like for others to not talk about the sky falling on civil rights. Today it’s about smoking and not fat laden foods, alcohol, drunk driving, your mama’s right to be a lesbian. And the insults? The last resort of the incoherent and illogical. Bring your best argument and take your insults back to the schoolyard where you learned them.
jackcrowx-So you assume anyone who opposes your view or expresses a conservative opinion is an “R”. You have no idea what party I support, but not doubt you voted Obama. Maybe I will go into your smoke free restaurant and watch all the fatties down their sugar laden sodas and cholesteral heavy order of chilli cheese fries. And I plan to petition my state representative to begin taxing those items to pay for the health cost burdens they create for the taxpayers. How is the Iraq War a government interferance. National defense is one of the duties of the Federal government, unlike paying people’s mortgages or paying for their babies.
greenva - you say, “There are lots of certain behaviors that have been related to the confines of one’s own private property.“ I guess you don’t count the confines of a restaurant owner’s own property?
I don’t look for any simpathy or agreement from you Nanny-Staters. Between the behavior of the G.A., U.S. Congress and your pres. Obama, I don’t know why there’s no brick hole in my TV. I was so tired of the past 2 years of election news, but boy I can’t wait for the next ones now. Smokers - let’s start the work on those private bars. We can call them Smoke Easies, like the ole Speak Easies(Spelling?) from prohibition. Of course, some non-smoker will try to lawyer his way in and then try to sue.
vagirl—Apparently 200 year old quotes only matter when you throw them around and out of context I might add. Following your logic, our Constitution shouldn’t matter either since it is well past the 200 year mark. I’d argue that the world has changed, but our core values have not.
Congratulations are in order to you for taking a TJ quote totally out of context. Jefferson said that as a warning of the inherent evil of big government. Read about Jefferson’s political philosophy some time and I think you will see he wanted as little government interference with private life as possible. I would imagine if he hasn’t already, he is rolling in his grave.
To fedup/JackCrow X, just because someone disagrees with a smoking ban does not mean they agree with other abuses of personal liberty. Today, we talk about smoking.
In ten months the answer to the smoker’s question “why is it me that has to go outside to smoke?“ will be that it’s the law. There is no reasoning with the addict.
Hopefully this promised new law will give some restaurant proprietors the incentive for early adopting of the inevitable arrangement.
BTW, boo-hoo for the diminishing, addled and bewildered smoking class.
Where was all this talk of personal liberty during the “defense of (bigoted) marriage” era?
Grant, that’s a nice quote. I’ve
seen it thrown around alot in discussing this topic. I must point out it was said 200 + years ago when
the world was quite different than it is now. If Mr Franklin lived in these times, he may have phrased that differently, who knows. If you want to play dueling quotes though, how about this one:
“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground”—Thomas Jefferson.
So ironic, All the R’s are coming out in opposition with their Chicken Little prophecies of the sky falling now that smokers have to smoke in their own room. “OH NOES! I can’t smoke wherever I want? The sky is falling! AHHHH!“
You can still smoke! Just not next to me. The drama and woe is self-inflicted.
I also like how the people who want to ban abortion, advocate the Iraq War, are silent on domestic spying, and wish to outlaw same-sex marriage are crying about “government interference” but only when it applies to their supposed right to shroud me in air pollution. Spare me hypocrites.
It’s also legal to shoot guns but I’m not doing it in a restaurant. Should we have a shooting and non-shooting section then? “But dang! You mean I can’t shoot my gun wherever I want! I say, that’s fascism! I’m going to bust some caps off right here in the library!“
Then you have the great argument of “Think about the owners!“ The only thing the owners care about is profit. The reason why choosing not to go smoking restaurants hasn’t worked. The only people currently in those smoke holes are smokers! The owners only hear one side of the story. That’s neither here nor there.
The law is passed thank goodness. I’ll finally be able to enjoy my food. As before one jackarse would light up in a room full of non-smokers without even a “Do you mind if I smoke?“ All you’d get is a nasty look if you said “Yes, go outside if you’d like because I’m trying to eat, thanks.“
Now the shoe is on the other foot. Enjoy the bed your inconsideration has made.
The final word is it’s not even a ban! You just have to smoke in another room! Stow this hysterics.
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