Lawmaker hopes smoking ban will fly in fall
HARRISBURG – State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf believes time and science are on his side. Despite another setback Monday night, Greenleaf, a Montgomery County Republican, remains optimistic that state lawmakers will send a smoking ban bill to Gov. Ed Rendell’s desk.
But Rendell will have to wait until at least fall to sign a smoking ban legislation, which he asked lawmakers to pass before starting their summer recess.
That’s because the Senate voted just before midnight Monday to reject a House bill that would have banned smoking in restaurants, bars, casinos and nearly all public places.
The House version was stronger than smoking-ban legislation that passed June 26.
House and Senate leaders will appoint a conference committee to hammer out a compromise bill. That bill would then be voted on in both chambers.
Greenleaf sponsored the Senate bill, but reluctantly supported it because it included exceptions on the ban for private clubs, corner bars and 25 percent of casino floors.
On Tuesday, Greenleaf said the House improved his bill. Greenleaf was disappointed, but not ready to abandon the cause.
“You have to be persistent and persevere in this,” Greenleaf said. “We haven’t given up and we are going to continue to push for this Clean (Indoor) Air Act, and I’m hopeful that we will have a good bill.”
Greenleaf has noticed public opinion shifting since he first started working on a statewide smoking ban 14 years ago.
Opposition to smoking restrictions has softened largely because reams of medical studies and warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General about the health risks associated with second-hand smoke, Greenleaf said.
“As that information has gotten out to the public about second-hand smoke, people have come to realize that this is a deadly substance,” Greenleaf said. “As time goes on, it (a smoking ban) will continue to receive greater and greater support.”
Sen. Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson, a Bucks County Republican, was among the 36 senators who voted to reject the House version.
Tomlinson does not support banning smoking in casinos. He that would drive gamblers away from Philadelphia Park and the state’s other casinos.
“I think it deserves to go into a conference committee to work these issues out,” Tomlinson said of the proposed smoking ban bill.
Rep. Chris King, a Bucks County Democrat, opposed amendments on Friday night intended weaken the smoking ban legislation.
On Monday, King voted for smoking ban that the House passed in a 141 to 62 vote.
“I understand that some exemptions may be required to ultimately pass a public smoking ban, but I wanted to pass as clean a bill as possible and get it over to the Senate,” King said.
But the battle over the smoking ban does not follow party lines.
A smoking ban is unpopular among Democrats from rural and more conservative areas of southwestern Pennsylvania.
Rep. Tim Mahoney, a Fayette County Democrat, said a ban would infringe on individuals’ freedoms.
“What are they going to tell you next, how many kids you are allowed to have?” Mahoney asked.
Mahoney said bowling alley owners in his district are concerned that smoking restrictions would hurt business.
And a Mahoney family business could also be affected.
Mahoney said his son, Tim Jr., owns The Cabaret nightclub in Uniontown, which would have to stop patrons from lighting up under the House version.
“If they decide statewide that you are not allowed to smoke in there, that just puts the small businessman at a crossroads,” Mahoney said. “If you don’t want to go into a place that has smoking, that’s your prerogative.”
House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, a Greene County Democrat whose district includes parts of Fayette and Washington, said he had smokers at the Star Lounge in Carmichaels and the American Legion in Masontown in mind when he voted against the smoking ban.
“I have a perspective that reflects the lion’s share of my constituents,” DeWeese said. “I have tried to keep the long arm of state government from intruding into their personal lives.”
DeWeese said he has no problem with banning smoking in government buildings, but believes the VFW and other private clubs should be the ones to decide if smoking will be allowed in their buildings.