State Update
OUR VIEW: Effort to repeal Smoker’s Bill of Rights goes too far
Last week State Rep. Wes. Culver of Goshen told Goshen News Statehouse Reporter Maureen Hayden that he again plans to carry proposed legislation on behalf of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce that would eliminate the so-called “Smoker’s Bill of Rights” that was passed into state law back in 1991.
That law prevents employers in Indiana from discriminating against employees or potential employees who smoke. Indiana is one of 29 states that protects the rights of smokers in such a way.
Culver proposed amending the law with House Bill 1029 during the General Assembly’s short session earlier this year. His bill was assigned to the House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee and never made it to the floor for a vote.
THE SUMMARY OF HB 1029 indicates that an employer, as a condition of employment, could require a prospective employee to “refrain from using tobacco products outside the course of the prospective employee’s employment.” It would also strike the civil cause of action in the current law allowing potential employees to sue employers for forbidding tobacco use on private time.
Now, we can certainly understand and sympathize with Culver’s and the Chamber’s point of view. We just can’t support it. Successful business people know that sound business decisions are the key to remaining successful. Not hiring smokers, from a numbers standpoint, does seem like a sound business decision.
After all, Indiana has one of the highest smoking rates in the country, estimated to be 21.2 percent among adults. According to a 2012 study from Ball State University, nearly $2.6 billion in productivity is lost and $2.2 billion in health-care costs are incurred each year in Indiana as a result of smoking.
That is a legitimate concern and it is reasonable for Culver, a successful businessman in his own right who owns the second largest duck farm in the state, to want to address it. But for a state law to allow employers discretion over the legal activities of employees during their free time is going too far.
Where would it stop? People also drink alcohol and eat unhealthy foods. Could employers discriminate against those also?
WE ARE THE FIRST to agree that people shouldn’t smoke. We believe that the statewide smoking ban in public spaces is a responsible progression that finally protects the rights and health of non-smokers. Everyone should have the right to dine at a restaurant and not be exposed to someone else’s cigarette smoke.
Indiana must continue to do all it can to educate residents on the dangers of smoking. The fact that nearly 22 percent of Hoosier adults smoke is an embarrassment. We urge anybody who smokes to consider taking advantage of the many fine cessation programs available in our communities. Smoking is incredibly addictive and difficult to stop and we have great respect for anybody who summons the wisdom and will power to kick the habit.
This editorial is not meant to disparage the efforts of Culver and Indiana Chamber of Commerce in dealing with an obvious statewide problem. We simply believe that the civil liberties of Indiana residents and employees must be protected and that House Bill 1029, as presented last session, is an overreach and a step away from the virtue of American freedoms.
