Kaine will try for restaurant smoking ban again
Published: January 6, 2009
Updated: January 6, 2009
State lawmakers are taking another crack at banning smoking in restaurants, hoping this year’s General Assembly will be friendlier than in the past.
In Arlington County today, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine is expected to propose a statewide restaurant smoking ban as part of his 2009 legislative agenda.
Monday, Del. David L. Englin, D-Alexandria, filed legislation that would prohibit smoking in all indoor restaurants and bar and lounge areas. A violation would carry a $25 civil penalty.
“Especially in today’s economy, it is wrong to force restaurant workers to choose between their jobs or breathing cancer-causing secondhand smoke,“ Englin said.
Efforts to curtail smoking are becoming a perennial issue at the assembly, though the attempts repeatedly have been rebuffed by some members of the House of Delegates. This will be at least the third year in which Kaine has sought restrictions.
Advocates say it’s a public health issue the government needs to address. Some restaurant industry representatives say businesses know what’s best for them. They say that if customers don’t want to frequent restaurants that allow smoking, that will force the eateries to change their policies.
Kaine will seek smoking restrictions as he urges lawmakers to double the cigarette tax to 60 cents per pack.
Among the factors giving Englin hope for this upcoming session is that the House General Laws Committee, where smoking bills have perished, will have a new chairman. Del. S. Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, the incoming committee chairman, could not be reached for comment.
Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Kaine, said the governor will address a piece of his legislative agenda this afternoon but would not confirm specifics.
Other lawmakers are expected to introduce smoking-ban legislation, Englin said, including attempts at regional bans. It’s important to many Northern Virginians, he said, because of its proximity to Washington, which prohibits smoking in restaurants.
“What we don’t want is to become the region’s ashtray,“ he said.
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Reader Reactions
He’s just trying to get one more thing done before he leaves office. I still don’t think States should dictate how businesses should be run. If you don’t want to be around smoke, don’t go into a place where it’s allowed. It’s a bunch of BS. While we’re at it, lets ban coffee, any caffeine related drinks, since those are stimulants too and too much of those can cause health problems. People have a choice as to whether or not they want to smoke and take years off their lives. Smoke em if you got em…
Leave it to a restraunt or the consumers of that restraunt to decide if it should be a non-smoking establishment or not.
If those that are opposed to smoking are serious about it, they’ll stop patronizing certain restraunts and those restraunts will change their business practices to regain the business. But, to use the force of law to change things that should be decided by business and customers? That is government run amok.
Ask the many bingo parlors or firefighting agencies what happened to thier profits when they shifted from smoking to non-smoking.
Kaine is using the same rationale that politicians use to justify red light cameras. And, people go along with this exploitation because they figure “we’ll, its not me so it doesn’t hurt…“. The loss of tax revenue from these establishments WILL hurt us all.
I sincerely hope this law passes.
jhcivicex, I appreciate your opinion, but it really has nothing to do with my being a “smoke nazi”. If you’ve sat in a restaurant while some idiot blows smoke for your toddlers to enjoy with their grilled cheese sandwiches, you’ll know why people want to see the smoking ban in restaurants.
I’ve been to many bars in NYC and California which both have the smoking ban and it is GREAT. My friends who smoke can step outside and have a cigarette when they want one. The rest of us who don’t can enjoy a beer without coming home smelling like an ashtray.
And by the way, how long have we known that smoking causes cancer now? 40 years? 50? And people are still spending money to inhale smoke and give themselves cancer? Yeah. Let’s go out of our way to make sure those brainiacs can smoke wherever they want…
Yesssss, Thank you Mr. Kaine. Thanks for trying to keep us away from second hand smoke, hope it gets approved this time. And they should try a $1 tax increase not just $0.60.
Smoke nazi’s. Sit in traffic and breath all those horrible carbons. Are you going to ban that 1988 Thunderbird, blowing smoke through your neighborhood that did’nt pass emission’s, No you will give them a waiver. You wanna ban something, ban alcohol from restaurants and watch people really get frustrated. Your chances of dying from a drunk driver leaving your local Red Lobster are much greater than my cigarette. Wrong to force workers to breath cancer causing second hand smoke? “Here you are sir, your fifth boiler maker extra strong just the way you like it”. They have no problem contributing to a deadly addiction that kills more innocent people than tobacco smoke. Raise the tax, I hope that money goes ICE. To my elders, Generation X is coming. Hold your breath. Personal vendettas are how bans are made and how there lifted. Comment away, lets make the world a better place?! 
Great Depression part 2 and Prohibition part 2, here we come. Ashtrays outside of Congress,hippocrits.
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