From: SMOKEFREE@compuserve.com
Date: Thu, 06/05/08
Senate deals setback to anti-smoking bill over local bans
Daily American (Somerset, PA)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2008/06/05/news/state/s_news612.txt
HARRISBURG, Pa. - The state Senate on Wednesday rejected a compromise bill
to ban smoking in most workplaces and public spaces in Pennsylvania, a
potentially fatal setback after negotiators thought they had broken a
lengthy deadlock with the House.
After a raucous debate, the chamber voted 31-19 against the measure, led by
Democratic senators who insisted that Allegheny County and Scranton be
allowed, like Philadelphia, to enforce their own ordinances.
"Our solution is simple: Put the county of Allegheny back in there, put the
city of Scranton back in there," said Sen. Robert J. Mellow, the chamber’s
Democratic leader from Lackawanna County.
Those two jurisdictions previously approved local bans, but a court struck
down Allegheny County’s last year and Scranton, fearing a similar fate,
never enforced its own.
The bill would let stand Philadelphia’s year-and-a-half-old ban, which is
the only active local smoking ordinance in the state. All other counties
and municipalities would be prohibited from enacting their own
restrictions.
Shortly after the Senate vote, the House approved the bill 163-38 - further
complicating its future if seven senators do not change their votes.
At the very least, Pennsylvania will have to wait to join more than 30
other states that have passed some type of smoking ban to protect people
from secondhand smoke, which is linked to numerous diseases, including
cancer.
The bill would ban cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking in restaurants, office
buildings, bus and train stations, sports arenas and elsewhere. However, it
also carries a lengthy list of exemptions that would ensure smoking could
continue in some places, including some bars and taverns, portions of
casino floors, private clubs and volunteer fire and rescue squad halls.
The Senate could reconsider the measure as early as Monday, when the
chamber returns to voting session. A key negotiator, Sen. Chuck McIlhinney,
R-Bucks, said Republicans will try to scrounge enough votes to pass the
bill, instead of sending it back for changes in a joint House-Senate
conference committee, as Democrats want.
"In my opinion, if we don’t pass it in this form, then there will be no
smoking ban this year in Pennsylvania," McIlhinney said. "We went through
this for a year and a half and that delay will end up killing the smoking
ban."
McIlhinney and others insisted that it would be too complicated to allow
cities and counties to craft their own smoking ordinances.
House members who negotiated the bill said they have no intention of making
changes after a hard-fought compromise over which establishments should be
permitted to continue allowing smoking.
"I hope the Senate comes to its senses," said Rep. Robert E. Belfanti Jr.,
R-Northumberland. "Because there’s no further changes we can make that we
can all agree to."
Gov. Ed Rendell, who has said he would sign the bill, said through a
spokesman Wednesday that he was disappointed by the Senate vote and hoped
the chamber would reconsider. Rendell, who has pressed for a smoking ban as
a way to cut health care costs, had threatened a veto if the bill barred
Philadelphia from enforcing its own ban.
The conference committee fashioned the bill and approved it 5-1 Tuesday
after a nearly year-long stalemate between the House and Senate.
But its exemptions prompted a refusal from the American Lung Association to
endorse the bill, saying it leaves too many people exposed to secondhand
smoke.
Some opponents of the bill criticized it as government run amok - going so
far as to prohibit a small-business owner from lighting up in his or her
office after the staff has left for the day.
The conference committee bill is modeled on Philadelphia’s ordinance. One
major difference is that the city bans smoking in casinos, effectively
meaning that the two casinos licensed to be built there would be the
state’s only smoke-free gambling halls.
Ordinances in Scranton and Allegheny County were similar, also seeking to
ban smoking in bars and casinos.
- - -
Senate rejects smoking ban deal
By Brad Bumsted and Christopher Wink
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
Thursday, June 5, 2008
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_571089.html
HARRISBURG -- The state Senate Wednesday defeated a proposed compromise to
ban smoking in most places in Pennsylvania, after a yearlong legislative
effort to settle the matter.
In a surprise move, the Senate voted 31-19 against a House-Senate
Conference Committee report after Democrats argued that Allegheny County
and Scranton should be permitted, like Philadelphia, to enact their own
smoking bans.
Those two jurisdictions approved local bans, but a court struck down
Allegheny County's last year and Scranton, fearing the same, never enforced
its ordinance.
"I can't understand why folks are turning their backs on Allegheny County,
the second-largest county in the commonwealth," said Sen. Sean Logan,
D-Plum.
The bill would let stand Philadelphia's ban, the state's only active local
smoking ordinance, and prohibit all other counties and municipalities from
enacting their own restrictions.
Most workplaces and many private businesses already ban or restrict
smoking. But that is voluntary, except in Philadelphia, said Gail Reinard,
a Senate aide who worked on the committee report.
The legislative arguments came down to three major provisions: banning
smoking in casinos, bars and private clubs.
"Everything else is pretty much the same. The casinos stick out, pretty
much," said Reinard.
The bill would ban smoking in most workplaces, restaurants, nightclubs and
bars, public transportation centers and mass transit vehicles. Bars would
be exempted if food sales make up less than 20 percent of revenue. Also
exempted: 25 percent of the floor space in casinos.
The next step isn't clear. The Senate moved to reconsider the bill. It
could be sent back to a conference committee. Shortly after the Senate
vote, the House approved the bill 163-38 -- further complicating its future
if seven senators do not change their votes.
An undercurrent to the debate was a historic belief that the rest of the
state plays second fiddle to Philadelphia. Gov. Ed Rendell, a former
Philadelphia mayor, told lawmakers he would veto the smoking bill if it
didn't preserve Philadelphia's ordinance.
"The governor is extremely disappointed," Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo
said. "He understands there were those legislators who wanted a stronger
ban, and believes the onus is now on them to produce a bill that can make
it through the Legislature and reach his desk."
Ten Republicans from across the state, including Sen. John Pippy of Moon
and Sen. Jane Orie of McCandless, joined the Senate Democrats to sink the
bill.
- - -
Smoking ban goes down in flames
State Senate rejects bill, but another vote is possible Monday.
By John L. Micek
Morning Call (Allentown)
June 5, 2007
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a3_5smoking.6443594jun05,0,5895973.stor
y
HARRISBURG - A bill banning most public smoking in Pennsylvania landed in
limbo Wednesday when the state House and Senate split on a laboriously
crafted compromise.
The Senate voted 31-19 to reject the measure, but the House voted 163-38 to
approve it.
Senate Democrats who helped derail the bill insisted they weren't trying to
kill it. They want to send it back to a joint House and Senate conference
committee to add language allowing Scranton and Allegheny County to enact
their own smoking rules.
''None of us want to defeat the bill,'' said Senate Minority Leader Robert
J. Mellow, D-Lackawanna, who led the push. ''We want to work through the
differences we may have.''
But Republican negotiators say such an action would be pointless because
negotiators had considered and rejected the idea of separate smoking rules
for the two municipalities Tuesday before sending the agreement to the full
Legislature.
Also, the conference committee's House members claimed the panel has ceased
to exist, which means sending the bill back would effectively send it
nowhere.
''We did what we had to do in good faith,'' said Rep. Robert E. Belfanti
Jr., D-Northumberland, who helped craft the compromise. ''There's no
further changes that we can make that we can all agree to.''
Through a spokesman, Gov. Ed Rendell called on lawmakers to reach an
accord.
''Now that all the political points have been made in the Senate, we hope
that the members will reconsider their position and do what's best for the
commonwealth,'' administration spokesman Chuck Ardo said.
The Senate could take a fresh crack at the bill as early as Monday,
courtesy of a parliamentary maneuver that effectively undid the chamber's
vote to reject the ban, allowing it to consider the measure anew.
Democrats say Scranton and Allegheny County deserve to be ''grandfathered''
into the bill, which allows Philadelphia to keep its 2-year-old
anti-smoking ordinance.
''We're saying to the people of Allegheny County that you can't do the same
thing [as Philadelphia]. It just doesn't make any sense to me,'' said Sen..
Sean Logan, D-Allegheny.
But Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks, who served on the conference committee,
said neither jurisdiction had a valid ordinance on the books when the panel
voted Tuesday. Also, Philadelphia has authority under state law to enact a
ban, he argued.
A state judge snuffed out Allegheny County's smoking rules in May 2007,
finding the county didn't have the right to impose them. The move prompted
Scranton officials to suspend enforcement of their own ordinance.
As of Wednesday afternoon, majority Senate Republicans were still
contemplating their next move.
''At this point, we have no decision on what we're doing on Monday,'' when
the Senate returns to session, said Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate
Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R- Delaware. ''We hope to resolve it as
quickly as possible.''
According to Arneson, the chamber has at least three options: Approve the
bill; return it to the joint House and Senate conference committee, or
table it, a move that would essentially kill the bill for the year.
Rep. Michael Gerber, D-Montgomery, a House negotiator, said he hopes the
Senate will simply return to session Monday and approve the compromise,
which includes 10 exceptions intended to balance public health and private
industry.
''I'm hopeful that they'll see that 163 House members voted in favor of
this,'' he said. ''With 163 'yes' votes, there's no reason to send this
back to conference committee. Â? The people of Pennsylvania are awaiting
smoke-free legislation.''
Lawmakers have been working for nearly a year to approve the smoking ban.
It's been opposed by tavern keepers and casino operators who fear it would
cut into their business. Some public health advocates say the bill doesn't
go far enough and should come without exceptions.
Diane Phillips, government relations director for the state office of the
American Cancer Society, wants the Senate to try again next week. ''Sending
the bill back to committee is killing it. They need to decide: Do they want
a majority of people protected from second-hand smoke?''
john.micek@mcall.com
717-783-7305
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