A bill to ban smoking in motor vehicles when children are present has passed the State Senate. Violators could be fined $100. “This is about the health of our children,“ said the bill’s sponsor. There’s a shock. These days, every proposal under the sun is sold as necessary for the sake of the children. On the other hand, not every proposal is sold as necessary to prevent child abuse—but that’s how Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw put it. Noting that child abuse is illegal, he said smoking in the car with children should be, too. “If [that] isn’t child abuse, what is?“

For the owner of McLeans Restaurant on West Broad Street, a state ban on smoking in restaurants represents a bailout of the environmental kind. “I’m all for it,“ said Dionne Kelleher, hours before the House of Delegates passed a watered-down version of a proposed smoking ban.

Rejecting a deal brokered by House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, House Republicans yesterday pushed through a weakened version of a statewide ban on restaurant smoking that Howell fashioned with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Rejecting a deal brokered by House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, House Republicans yesterday pushed through a weakened version of a statewide ban on restaurant smoking that Howell fashioned with Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. Before voting 61-38 to give tentative approval to House Bill 1703, members added more exceptions to the compromise, which already made allowances for private clubs and restaurants with a designated smoking room that is separated and independently ventilated.

So it is going to be that kind of campaign. Over the weekend, former DNC chairman and current gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe fired off an e-mail blast at Bob McDonnell, the fellow he’ll square off against in the general election if he wins the Democratic nod. McAuliffe—a well-heeled and wellconnected former head of the Democratic National Committee—is not exactly playing Cincinnatus, the Roman yeoman pressed into reluctant service. He already has hit the airwaves with TV spots. On Saturday he showed up at Virginia Democrats’ annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner accompanied by a high-school drum line.

Here’s a look at what’s coming up this week in the General Assembly:

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.

A foundation that supports youth-smoking prevention programs in Virginia would have its role broadened to include fighting childhood obesity by legislation moving through the General Assembly. The legislation, which already has passed the Senate, would change the name of the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation to the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth. Its sponsors are state Sen. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, and Del. John M. O’Bannon III, R-Henrico, both of whom are physicians and members of the foundation’s board of trustees. O’Bannon is its chairman.

Having read the polls, which show lopsided support for a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, House Speaker Bill Howell has caved. The agreement he and Gov. Tim Kaine announced yesterday is billed as a compromise—but there is little in it that will mollify opponents of a ban, or disappoint advocates. Smokers are being relegated to the doghouse.

A bill to ban smoking in Virginia’s bars and restaurants cleared the House of Delegates General Laws Committee this evening by a 16-6 vote. It will now go to the full House.

Like most people, I want teens to receive medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education that includes information on abstinence, contraception, and disease prevention. Providing them with information about their sexuality and health encourages them to become responsible and informed decision makers. It’s just common sense. Luckily, this year the Virginia General Assembly has the opportunity to pass an important piece of legislation that would greatly benefit young people: HB 1789, Medically Accurate Family Life Education. This bill would require Virginia school districts to teach comprehensive, medically accurate sex education. This means teens would receive sex education that includes information about contraception and condoms.

The cigarette tax was raised considerably in 2007 and may be raised again this year. One has to wonder whether it is more important to reduce rates of youth smoking or spend the amount of money on reducing youth smoking suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I have always thought that progress in improving health should be rewarded rather than panned. If our nation does not reach the 2010 Healthy People targets for smoking prevalence developed by a number of health-oriented governmental organizations, will the Lung Association accept the blame for the failure—regardless of whether a reduction took place?

As Gov. Timothy M. Kaine seeks to double the state’s tax on cigarettes to get more money for health care, state statistics show that cigarette sales declined after the previous two rounds of tax increases. State tax officials note that other factors, including anti-smoking campaigns and societal changes in smoking habits, also may have contributed to the decline.

Supporters of stricter indoor-smoking laws and higher cigarette taxes in Virginia turned out yesterday to lobby state lawmakers. About 150 volunteers descended on the Capitol, urging legislators to vote for bills that would crack down on smoking in workplaces and increase the state’s cigarette tax to $1.20 from 30 cents per pack. A coalition of public-health groups organized the effort.

If tobacco is such a detrimental product to society, have some guts to ban it altogether. Never mind that budgets are balanced with the millions of dollars received from tax windfalls. Once again, the prices will go up and the regressive tax is put on those least able to afford the taxes—the smokers. Never mind that tobacco defined America in the early years and God help the poor soul who just enjoys a smoke now and then. What we have here is a redistribution of funding from smokers to government revenues, lawyers, and the politicians they support.