People Ban: LA State Alert

Senate Kills Smoking Ban

June 07, 2011

With a 15-22 vote, the Louisiana Senate last week shot down a bill that would have banned smoking in Louisiana bars. The vote came after the Senate Health & Welfare Committee approved Senate Bill 133 by state Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia.

Marionneaux’s bill was lobbied hard on both sides. The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco Free Living (TFL) mounted an aggressive ad campaign in support of the measure, while casinos joined with bars to fight it.

Casinos were initially exempt from the bill’s provisions, but an amendment was added to prevent the state Department of Health and Hospitals from renewing or issuing health permits to “any facility operated by or on the lands of a sovereign Indian nation” unless compliant with the law. That put some casinos back in the mix, effectively destroying any chance of the bill succeeding.

A similar situation occurred in 2009, when lawmakers were poised to ban smoking in bars. That effort failed after a late addition of casinos, previously exempt from the potential ban. Marionneaux authored last year’s bill as well.

TFL’s “Let’s Be Totally Clear” campaign, via billboard, print and TV ads, pushed for smoke-free workplaces, citing health concerns for patrons and employees. Earlier this year the group published results from air quality tests in Lafayette barrooms taken during December 2010 and January 2011. The tests, performed by TFL and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center’s School of Public Health, rated 17 of 22 smoke-filled barrooms as “unhealthy,” “very unhealthy” or “hazardous,” measurements defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Those readings present “serious risk of respiratory effects in the general population, and significant aggravation of heart or lung disease and premature mortality in people with cardiopulmonary disease and the elderly,” according to the report.

Local bars like Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar, which thrives on its smoke factor, oppose a smoking ban. Bar owner Robert LeBlanc, on the other hand, voluntarily made his bars Capdeville, LePhare, Loa and Republic smoke-free. Music venues like Tipitina’s and d.b.a. also have made the switch.

Carrie Broussard, TFL’s policy and advocacy manager, said the campaigns will continue. “Certainly we would love to see the day all employees and workplaces are protected from second-hand smoke,” she said. ” … we would love to see that stuff happen, but it’s really separate from what our job is — to build awareness about health issues and to ensure those who are unprotected have a voice.” — Alex Woodward

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly – 96th General Assembly
The Missouri General Assembly adjourned at the Constitutionally appointed hour of 6 p.m. on May 13, 2011.? We can breathe a sigh of relief that they cannot enact any “good” ideas for a few more months.? Given that United for Missouri’s issues revolve primarily around fiscal policy, there were some good ideas that passed, some bad ones and some very ugly ones this session.
As is always the case, many bad bills died an appropriate death and good bills did as well.?
SMOKING BAN • The legislature refused to adopt an amendment that would ban smoking statewide by a vote of 36-97.? The bad and ugly part of it is that local governments continue to take away the liberties of individuals and businesses by implementing such bans.

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To our politicians
6/16/08
I am writing again to voice my concerns with the excessive spending of our State and Federal Government.
How can they even think about giving themselves pay raises when the people are struggling enough as it is?
With the high prices of gas, utilities, all kinds of insurances (that we must have), groceries, etc., etc. Not to mention that we, the people of South Louisiana?are still trying to recover from the hurricanes. We are waiting and waiting for authorization for our hurricane protection system and that keeps getting shot down some how.
People on Social Security get a messily $30.00 or $40.00 a month raise. But the cost of living goes up much higher than that. People working 20 hours a week at minimum wage want be able to afford to keep going to work.
Most of these people in office have other jobs or own their own companies. They knew from the get go how much? they were going to make when they ran for their position.
Is that why we are paying so much for Gas…..
When is it going to stop?
Is that how they go about getting money back, make the people pay more tax ….and
Is that what them kids are dying for …….Freedom it sure cost a lot…..
Thanks a lot
– A Newsletter Reader

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Commentary: Surgeon general’s report based on slanted studies

August 5, 2006
Barbara Aucoin

Before the smokophobes in this country get too excited about the new surgeon general’s report on the alleged dangers of secondhand smoke, consider this:

The report’s executive summary states that the CDC estimated last year that exposure to secondhand smoke kills more than 3,000 nonsmokers from lung cancer, approximately 46,000 from coronary heart disease, and as many as 430 newborns from sudden infant death syndrome.

First, the report is merely a regurgitation of cherry-picked, non-scientific “studies” (i.e., paid for and/or written by anti-smoker activists, according to the report’s bibliography), and not on any new, unbiased scientific research.

Second, the report doesn’t state how the oft-quoted 3,000 estimated figure is obtained by the anti-smoker industry. This figure (like the 400,000 smokers who allegedly die each year) is generated using a computer program called SAMMEC. A programmer enters specific figures into the system, thereby assuring the predetermined result and is then publicized as gospel.

Even the surgeon general can’t name just one person whose death certificate or coroner’s report states categorically that the person died from being around secondhand smoke. The fact that the huge majority of heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory problems are genetic has completely escaped him.

Fourth, the SIDS Alliance has told the anti-smoker industry several times to stop stating that secondhand smoke causes SIDS deaths. Following are several quotes from a letter written to John Banzhaf, founder of one of the more extremist anti-smoker groups, the Action on Smoking and Health, on Dec. 4, 1996, by Phipps Cohe, national public affairs director of the SIDS Alliance:

Cohe wrote to Banzhaf, “… we object to your organization’s use of misleading data and terminology when linking Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to your cause,” and “To date, no direct causal relationship has been established. In fact, the vast majority of infants born to smoking parents do not die of SIDS. And, since many SIDS deaths occur in a smoke-free environment, we must refrain from making smoke exposure appear to be linked to all SIDS deaths.”

He also wrote, “The sensational heading for one of your recent Internet reports [07/30/96] “Smoking Parents Are Killing Their Infants” has gone too far. The fact is, researchers still do not know what causes SIDS.” Mr. Cohe concludes by stating, “Based on the copy retrieved over the Internet and the direct mail appeal recently brought to our attention … we respectfully request that you adjust your message as far as SIDS is concerned.” During the almost 10 years since Mr. Cohe strenuously objected to ASH’s tactics, that organization (and all the other anti-smoker groups) continues to state what it knows are blatant lies as far as SIDS and secondhand smoke are concerned.

Richard Carmona has been quoted as stating that he is “adamantly opposed to tobacco smoking” and he has stated more than once that he wants all tobacco sales and consumption prohibited nationwide. Carmona using his position to further his personal agenda and hatred toward smoking and smokers by releasing this super-biased report is abominable.

The report also repeats the falsehood that allergies and asthma in children are caused from being around secondhand smoke when, in fact, the number of smokers has decreased dramatically during the past 30 years, whereas the incidences of asthma and allergies in children have risen alarmingly. (As have occurrences of lung cancer, so what does that tell you?)

Children are no longer allowed to play in the dirt or skin their knees or get a little bump on their heads because they’re dressed in helmets, knee pads and elbow pads, and they live and play in sterilized homes, schools and playgrounds. Today’s children are prone to infections, viruses, allergies and asthma because their parents aren’t allowing their immune systems to develop normally. At least as they grow older, they will have the government and the professional nannies to tell them exactly how to live their lives.

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Children Of Smokers Have Five Times Higher Levels Of A Nicotine Toxin
19 Jun 2007??

Children who have at least one parent who smokes have 5.5 times higher levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, in their urine, according to a study published online ahead of print in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Having a mother that smokes was found to have the biggest independent effect on cotinine in the urine – quadrupling it. Having a smoking father doubled the amount of cotinine, one of chemicals produced when the body breaks down nicotine from inhaled smoke to get rid of it.

Sleeping with parents and lower temperature rooms were also associated with increased amounts of cotinine.

Cotinine was measured in 104 urine samples taken from 12-week old infants. Seventy one of the babies had at least one parent that smoked and the parents of the other 33 were non-smokers. The study was led by researchers from the University of Leicester Medical School and was done in collaboration with Warwick University.

The authors say: ‘Babies affected by smoke tend to come from poorer homes, which may have smaller rooms and inadequate heating.

‘Higher cotinine levels in colder times of year may be a reflection of the other key factors which influence exposure to passive smoking, such as poorer ventilation or a greater tendency for parents to smoke indoors in winter.’

Sleeping with a parent is a know risk factor for cot death and the authors suggest that one reason for this could be inhalation of, or closeness to clothing or other objects contaminated with, smoke particles during sleep.

Nearly 40% of under-fives are believed to be exposed to tobacco smoke at home, and smoke may be responsible for up to 6,000 deaths per year in the US alone in young children.

The authors say: ‘Babies and children are routinely exposed to cigarette smoking by their carers in their homes, without the legislative protection available to adults in public places.’

But they acknowledge that there are practical difficulties in preventing smoking in private homes because it relies on parents or carers being educated about the harmful effects of passive smoking on their children and then acting on that knowledge.

Effect of parental smoking on cotinine levels in newborns
Archives of Disease in Childhood 2007; doi: 10.1136/adc.2006.108506? http://www.adc.bmj.com

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Painter: No end runs in smoking ban

Jul 11, 2006
MARSHA SHULER

The man in charge of state liquor licensing said Monday he won’t allow restaurants to try to disguise themselves as bars to get around the newly minted smoking ban.

“We are not going to let anybody use us to create any loopholes,” said Murphy Painter, state commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, the agency that oversees liquor permits.

The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, does not spell out who enforces the smoking prohibition, he said.

Under the Louisiana Smokefree Air Act, smoking is allowed in bars, which Painter’s agency regulates, including those that serve food. But smoking is forbidden in all restaurants, even those with liquor licenses.

That’s a problem for restaurants who claim they will lose business to bar operations. Some restaurant owners are already asking questions to see if they can qualify as a bar, Painter told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

Painter’s agency regulates about 3,000 barrooms and 3,100 restaurants with liquor licenses, he said.

He would not let anyone “water down the intent,” of the law, which is aimed at protecting nonsmokers from being exposed to unhealthy second-hand smoke, Painter said.

The differences between the definitions of a bar and a restaurant are key, said Painter.

The distinctions are clear and Painter said he won’t let those lines be blurred.

A bar is a business with a Class A liquor license with its primary business on-the-premise alcohol consumption, Painter said. The serving of food is incidental, he said.

The law defines a restaurant as an eating establishment whose primary business is sale of food to the public, he said.

Alcohol and Tobacco Control agents would verify the level of food and alcohol sales, Painter said.

But if the business is mainly serving food, “it’s going to be real hard to hold my nose and let you have a bar license,” he said.

That would be “a ruse and a farce,” Painter said.

Asked whether restaurants could wall off an area and have separate bar operations, Painter said, “possibly.”

But the restaurant would have to create a completely separate legal entity, have a separate entrance, kitchen, bathrooms and air-conditioning systems, he said.

Painter said he sees a couple of omissions in the law that bans smoking in restaurants, governmental buildings, schools, any public place and any enclosed area within a place of employment.

For instance, the law does not spell out who has primary enforcement authority and who develops regulations to answer a myriad of questions he anticipates will be asked, Painter said.

“It gives everybody the authority but not the responsibility,” said Painter.

Issuing of misdemeanor tickets for violations is left to local and state law enforcement, Painter said.

Alcohol and Tobacco Control agents will issue tickets if they find violations in the course of their regular checks to see if establishments are following liquor and tobacco laws.

Ultimately, the courts will have to sort out questions about the laws, Painter said.

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Smoking ban to be enforced

July 10, 2006
Mike Hasten
BATON ROUGE – Restaurant owners will run into opposition if they try to get around the new smoking ban by declaring that their facilities are bars so patrons can smoke.

Murphy Painter, head of the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, said today the law, scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2007, will not allow “anybody trying to operate under that ruse or that farce.”

Painter said he and his office will “take a hard line” on the issuance of Class A liquor permits, which are issued to bars. Restaurants that serve alcohol operate under a different permit.

“I’m not going to let anybody use us to create any loophole,” he told the Press Club of Baton Rouge.

When Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed the bill June 30, Louisiana Restaurant Association spokesman Tom Weatherly said, “There’s not a clear line of what is a bar.”

The general rule, he said, was whether an establishment had more than 50 percent of its income from food sales.

However, “if you had more than 50 percent and wanted to be called a bar, it was acceptable” and a Class A bar license could be obtained.

With that license, though, comes a restriction on clientele and the inability to hire anyone under age 18.

“This gives the first economic incentive for a restaurant to be called a bar,” Weatherly said. “There’s nothing to prevent an establishment that had high food sales to be reclassified as a bar” but the owner would have to determine whether the loss of younger clientele would be worth it.

Painter said that has been the case under the present law but the new law is more restrictive.

The new law is clear in its definition of a restaurant, he said, and his office will audit the books of applicants that apply for a change in status to make sure most of the sales are from alcohol.

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Smoking-ban OK proves Blanco is unfit
Jul 8, 2006
Kyle Johnston

I see that Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed Sen. Rob Marionneaux’s restaurant smoking ban into law.

I think free people in free societies can choose to enter or not to enter any place of business they feel puts them or their children at risk.

Further, business owners can choose to ban smoking on their own, and employees are not forced into labor in smoking environments.

Government intervention is not necessary in matters such as these. Most business owners are shrewd, hard-working people who want to succeed. If totally smoke-free restaurants were in such demand, they would already exist.

Some restaurants already cater to specific consumers by not serving alcohol, offering low-fat or low-carb menus, eliminating MSG and peanut oils from the menu etc.

Gov. Blanco and the Legislature should spend more time working on our real problems, like government inefficiency, overinflated budgets, old-guard pork-barrel policies and REAL hurricane evacuation plans.

Gov. Blanco has once again proved she is unfit and underqualified for the office she now holds. I wish her luck in her next job.

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Restaurant smoking ban may be challenged in court

July 5, 2006

Several Louisiana restaurant owners are considering a lawsuit to challenge a new law that will ban all smoking inside restuarants and other public buildings beginning in January.

A spokesman for the Louisiana Restaurant Association says the group could consider a suit at its board meeting next month.

Governor Kathleen Blanco signed the bill into law on Friday. The measure bans smoking in restaurants but allows it in barrooms and casinos.

The new law also prohibits smoking in eating areas of casinos but allows it in the gambling areas.

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Letter to President Davis of the Louisiana Restaurant Association

July 06, 2006

President Davis,

I was sad to read that Governor Kathleen Blanco had signed the Louisiana Smoke-free Act into law. I know that these anti-smoking laws are pretty popular now; much like alcohol Prohibition was popular in 1918. As a historian with a Ph.D. in American History I am very familiar with the tragedy of Prohibition. It upsets me that we may be headed back in that direction.

I do hope that the Louisiana Restaurant Association will fight the ban in court. Hospitality groups have been fighting the bans in New Jersey and Colorado. The argument has been made that the bans are unfair to bars and restaurants since the legislatures of those states conveniently left casinos out of the legislation. That may be a valid argument. However, I believe that an argument could also be made that there is not enough scientific evidence to prove that secondhand smoke is dangerous enough to justify the bans. I realize that Surgeon General Carmona has recently released a report on secondhand smoke. That report, though, mainly just regurgitates shaky evidence that anti-smoking advocates have tossed around for years. The vast bulk of studies never even reach epidemiological significance, and some even found protective effects from secondhand smoke. In addition, Carmona is a known tobacco prohibitionist who has made several public statements to the effect that he would like to see tobacco sales banned. It is also true that of the known hazardous chemicals in tobacco smoke that OSHA regulates, NONE rise to danger levels in secondhand smoke.

Ms. Davis, I think that a legal argument might be made something to this effect:

In order to support this argument you would have to go back to the published studies. You would submit them as evidence in your case. Such studies would include the WHO study which found that children exposed to secondhand smoke actually had fewer incidences of lung cancer than those not exposed. There are many other studies as well. I think you might also bring to bear in your case previous court cases in which defendants tried to claim damages from secondhand smoke exposure but failed. There are a few such cases around.”

Ms. Davis, the anti-smoking forces are playing a game of divide and conquer. They are taking down the restaurants, then the bars, then the casinos. The alcohol Prohibitionists of old used the same tactic with beer, wine, and liquor interests. Many in the beer and wine industries felt they would be safe from Prohibition and were happy to throw liquor “under the bus.” In the end, all of them fell. Remember, the anti-smoking extremists will not rest until they have outlawed smoking in every establishment.

Jeremy Richards, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of History

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Governor signs smoking ban

June 30, 2006
Mike Hasten

Gov. Kathleen Blanco on Friday signed into law Senate Bill 742, known as the Louisiana Smoke-free Act, giving restaurants and other businesses six months to acclimate their customers and employees to the fact that smoking will be illegal.

Blanco was not available for comment after signing the bill and issued no statement.

Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, said the law will “afford our citizens the pleasure of having dinner with their families without the bother of secondhand smoke

“It was a long and hard fight for the tobacco control community,” said Terri Broussard, Louisiana advocacy director for the American Heart Association. “We applaud Gov. Blanco for signing the bill into law, and we thank her for making Louisiana one of the first Southern states to enact smoke free workplace legislation.”

Blanco under pressure on proposed smoking ban

6/28/2006

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Kathleen Blanco is under pressure from two directions as she decides whether to sign a bill that would ban smoking in all Louisiana restaurants and most other public buildings, though not in casinos and bars.

Blanco has said she would sign the measure; she has until July 10 to act. If she does nothing, it will become law and take effect on Jan. 1.

However, restaurant industry officials have pushed for a veto, arguing that the measure favors bars over restaurants. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, an opponent, said the smoking ban would encourage bars to start serving more food. Casino patrons will leave a snack bar or restaurant and head for the gambling area to light up, to the detriment of restaurants, he said.

“Right now is not the time to tamper with the recovery of our restaurants” that were hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Richmond said.

Anti-smoking advocates have sought a meeting or conference call with Blanco, to push her to sign the measure.

Terri Broussard, of the American Heart Association, and Zoey Devall, of the American Cancer Society in Louisiana, wrote to Blanco legislative aide Hunt Downer noting the recent release of a report by U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona confirming the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The health advocates said that “only smoke-free buildings and public places effectively protect nonsmokers” who are employees or patrons.

Read SB742
Author: MARIONNEAUX
Summary: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: Prohibits and penalizes smoking in public buildings, schools, other public places, and inside places of employment. (1/1/07)

Senate approves smoking ban bill

June 17, 2006
Mike Hasten

Starting Jan. 1, your favorite restaurant will be smoke-free — if Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a non-smoker, agrees.

The Senate on Friday agreed to House amendments to SB 742 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Maringouin, to create the “Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act.” Besides restaurants, the law applies to any public building, except bars and casinos.

The bill sent to Blanco imposes minimum requirements for enforcement statewide but local governments or businesses could impose tougher requirements.

The governor has not yet said whether she will sign the bill, which was passed over the objections of the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

Smoking would still be allowed in private homes and automobiles (unless used for child or day care), limousines, hotel and motel rooms designated for smoking, a retail or tobacco product manufacturing business, bars not affiliated with dining, outdoor areas not designated as no-smoking areas, casinos, video poker establishments, race tracks, charitable gaming places and convention facilities that host certain events, including specific trade shows and Mardi Gras balls. Any restaurants and snack bars affiliated with gaming places must be smoke-free.

Senate OKs bill to ban smoking in restaurants

Jun 17, 2006
MARSHA SHULER

With the dawn of 2007, diners could be going into smoke-free restaurants across Louisiana.

The Louisiana Senate gave final legislative approval Friday to a bill that also creates “smoke free” zones in offices, government buildings, malls and other places where smokers and nonsmokers mix.

Smoking in restaurants was the biggest bone of contention in the debate over the health risk of secondhand smoke.

The smoking ban, Senate Bill 742, will become law unless Gov. Kathleen Blanco vetoes it.

Senators voted 30-4 to go along with the House version of the bill. Senators had voted to exempt bars in restaurants from the smoking ban. House members didn’t like that idea and stripped the provision. Senators acquiesced.

Bars not part of restaurants could allow smoking.

“I know this is a difficult task at hand with restaurants,” said Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Gross Tete, sponsor of the smoke-free proposal. But he said he prefers to protect the health of people now exposed to second-hand smoke.

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Louisiana — which includes state lung, cancer and heart associations — praised the Legislature. The coalition estimates that 1,200 Louisiana citizens lose their lives annually because of diseases caused by being around smokers.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association continued to oppose the legislation. Its executive director, Jim Funk, said the proposed law would put restaurants at a disadvantage because smoking would still be allowed in bars that serve some food.

Before the Senate vote, Sen. Ed Murray, D-New Orleans, complained that restaurants with separate bars would not be exempt from the smoking ban.

“Even if they have already made the investment, they are not grandfathered in, protected,” Murray said.

But Marionneaux said smaller restaurants could not afford to erect expensive walls to separate bar areas so they could compete with chains and large restaurants.

The total ban is fairer to all restaurants, he said.

Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, said restaurant owners could apply for a separate bar license if they wanted to allow the smoking and still serve limited amounts of food.

Besides restaurants, the bill would ban smoking in offices that employ more than one worker, all government buildings, malls, retail stores, indoor sports arenas, schools and a host of other public buildings.

Smoking would still be allowed in bars and gambling establishments. In addition, hotels and motels could reserve up to 50 percent of their rooms for smokers.

House toughens and passes La. restaurant smoking ban

June 15, 2006

Smoking should be banned in all Louisiana restaurants, the House voted on Thursday, toughening a smoking prohibition bill despite complaints that it was a clumsy government intrusion into the marketplace.

The measure has exceptions that would allow smoking in bars and casinos. Also exempted from the ban would be restaurants’ patios and outdoor areas, plus most hotel rooms.

House members toughened the measure by deleting a loophole that would have allowed smoking in restaurants’ bar areas.

Rep. William Daniel rejected the argument that the ban would harm restaurants’ income by driving away customers who smoke. Its main effects, he said, would be to make eating out more enjoyable and to protect restaurant workers from second-hand smoke that causes a host of health trouble.

The sometimes smoke-filled atmosphere in restaurants now “creates respiratory problems and asthma, and the effects later on are much, much worse,” said Daniel, R-Baton Rouge.

Lawmakers including Rep. Ernest Wooton disagreed, saying the Legislature should leave restaurant owners alone, and allow them to make the decision of whether or not to allow smoking.

“We legislate too much, too often,” said Wooton, R-Belle Chasse. “Remember free enterprise. Let the man who’s invested his money in his business run his business. If he wants to go broke with smokers, let him go broke with smokers.”

Wooton was one of 35 House members who voted against the measure. Fifty-five voted in favor, sending it back to the Senate for approval of Daniel’s amendment.

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Committee clears smoking-ban bill
Changes in legislation cause two major groups to drop their support

By WILL SENTELL
Capitol news bureau
Jun 8, 2006

A bill to ban smoking in most restaurants cleared a House committee on Wednesday despite changes that caused two key groups to drop their support.

The measure, Senate Bill 742, won approval in the House Health and Welfare Committee, 13-1, and next faces action in the full House. It has already passed the Senate.

Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Grosse Tete and sponsor of the bill, said that, even with a weakening amendment added in the Senate, the legislation would ensure that up to 80 percent of restaurants in Louisiana would be smoke-free.

“It is a small step,” Marionneaux said.

Backers contend the measure would protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke.

However, Marionneaux said he preferred that his proposal not include a Senate amendment that excludes enclosed bars in restaurants from the ban.

He said that change caused the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association to drop their support for the measure. Critics of that addition contend it would harm nonsmokers since restaurants generally rely on one ventilation system.

The bill already excluded casinos and bars from the smoking ban. Marionneaux said he did so to boost chances for passage after casino interests helped kill his anti-smoking bill last year.

Backers said the bill is needed in part because setting aside smoking and nonsmoking sections in restaurants does not work.

Rep. Robby Carter, D-Greensburg and a panel member, told a lobbyist for the Louisiana Restaurant Association that he favors the legislation after years of siding with the association.

“It doesn’t seem to be working, to segregate the smokers from the nonsmokers,” Carter said.

Rep. Charles MacDonald, D-Bastrop, noted that the state spends millions of dollars each year on ailments that stem from smoking.

“This is personal to me because I lost a mother and a father to smoking-related illnesses,” MacDonald said.

The committee approved an amendment by McDonald that gives restaurants until July 1, 2008, to meet certain standards for enclosed bars.

The lone “no” vote in the committee was cast by Rep. Diane Winston, R-Covington. Winston said she is concerned about the wisdom of government trying to regulate personal conduct.

Jim Funk, chief executive officer for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, said the bill unfairly targets some eating establishments while excluding others.

“What’s being done is just wrong,” Funk said.

Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, tried to restore casinos and bars to the bill despite comments by Marionneaux that it would make it impossible to pass.

“If that’s what’s right, then that is what we should do,” LaBruzzo said.

The amendment failed with three in favor and nine opposed.

The smoking ban also applies to banks, health-care facilities, hotel and motel lobbies, Laundromats, public transportation, sports arenas, theaters and retail stores.

The bill initially would have limited rooms designated for smoking in hotels and motels to 20 percent of the total. The committee passed an amendment that increased that to 50 percent.

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June 7, 2006

BATON ROUGE, La. — A House committee approved a proposed ban on smoking in restaurants’ dining areas on Wednesday, rejecting objections that Louisiana is turning into a “nanny state” by trying to legislate its citizens’ behavior.

The bill by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, would allow smoking in bars and casinos. Also exempted from the ban would be restaurants’ bars and outdoor areas, plus hotel rooms as long as between 20 percent and 50 percent of a hotel’s rooms are nonsmoking.

The House Health and Welfare Committee approved the measure 13-1, sending it to the full House. It easily passed the Senate.

Smoking in restaurant bars would be allowed only if they are completely walled off from the dining areas. The committee added an amendment that would give owners of restaurants with bars until 2008 to separate the bar areas from dining rooms before they have to ban smoking there.

Committee members rejected several attempts by Rep. John LaBruzzo to amend the bill further. First LaBruzzo tried to expand the smoking ban by including bars and casinos, saying it’s unfair to single out restaurants.

“If it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do across the board,” LaBruzzo, R-Metairie.

But Marionneaux argued that expanding the measure would essentially kill it _ by creating opposition from the powerful gambling and tavern industries. Marionneaux said he agreed with LaBruzzo’s sentiment but also acknowledged the “political reality” that the measure could not get through the Legislature if it angered two more lobbies, on top of the restaurant industry.

The panel voted down LaBruzzo’s amendment with a 3-9 vote.

LaBruzzo then tried to move in the opposite direction and water the measure down, by exempting restaurants that serve alcohol. He said the change would make it easier for restaurants to compete with bars for customers who smoke.

Otherwise, he said, “all the business is going to leave the restaurants and it’s going to go to the bars.”

The panel rejected that argument too, voting 2-12 to turn the amendment away.

Rep. Robby Carter said he sympathized with complaints from restaurant owners, adding that he has voted against smoking bans in the past. However, Carter said he often “can’t breathe” in restaurants’ nonsmoking sections because they’re not truly separate from smoking sections.

“It doesn’t seem to be working, segregating the smokers from the nonsmokers,” said Carter, D-Independence.

Rep. Diane Winston, D-Covington, was the only member voting against the ban. She warned lawmakers that advancement of the smoking ban follows other attempts to legislate people’s behavior _ she noted laws restricting fatty foods in schools and reducing the blood-alcohol limit for motorists _ and will further push Louisiana toward becoming a “nanny state.”

“The state keeps being in the business of protecting people from their own poor choices,” said Winston, D-Covington, the only member to vote against the measure.

A bill with similar anti-smoking provisions also awaits a vote in the Senate.

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Louisiana Dictators
May 12, 2006
Dear Mr. Representative,
I don’t know who you and everyone of the representatives that voted for this ban think you are. I think ya’ll need to change your title to House of Rulers, instead of representatives.
Read: http://louisianaatitsbest.blogspot.com/

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La. Senate passes restaurant smoking ban

May 2, 2006
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana restaurant patrons who want an after-dinner smoke should be forced to leave the dining room before lighting up, the full Senate decided today.

Senators approved Sen. Rob Marionneaux’s plan to prohibit smoking in all restaurants’ dining areas but allow smoking in bars and casinos, cigar shops, and hotel and motel rooms. Marionneaux cited several polls conducted by anti-smoking groups showing that a majority of residents in Louisiana’s cities support such a ban.

“Let’s afford our citizens the right to have dinner with their families without the bother of second-hand smoke,” said Marionneaux, D-Livonia.

The measure passed on a 36-2 vote. Sens. Heulette “Clo” Fontenot, R-Livingston, and Max Malone, R-Shreveport, opposed the bill, which now moves to the House.

If the bill becomes law, smoking would be outlawed in restaurants beginning in 2007.

Sen. Ken Hollis filed an amendment to allow smoking inside restaurants’ bar areas, if those bars are walled off from the dining area. Hollis said suddenly banning smokers from those areas could drive restaurants out of business, because their customers will go to bars where smoking is allowed.

“This will hopefully keep some of our restaurants from going out of business,” said Hollis, R-Metairie.

Marionneaux opposed the amendment, calling it a veiled attempt to kill the measure, by drawing further opposition from the restaurant industry. Restaurant owners have complained that the bill — even without Hollis’ amendment — gives tavern owners special treatment.

Senators approved Hollis’ amendment with a 23-15 vote, sending it to the House.

The bill was also amended by Sen. Diana Bajoie, D-New Orleans, who added an exemption aimed at helping New Orleans’ convention center attract business. The amendment would allow smoking at convention space during tobacco industry trade shows.

It would also allow smoking during Mardi Gras krewes’ parties held at a convention center.

Marionneaux introduced a similar plan last year that was voted down by the full Senate, partly because it included a provision to also outlaw smoking in casinos. This year’s version exempts casinos, eliminating opposition from the powerful gambling industry and improving its chances of eventually becoming law.

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Smoking ban heads to Senate

April 26, 2006
Mike Hasten

BATON ROUGE – Smoking should be prohibited in most public areas so non-smokers won’t be plagued with second-hand smoke, a Senate committee said today.

The proposed smoking ban in legislation authored by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, would affect restaurants, public buildings, work areas, elementary, middle and high schools, retail stores, shopping malls, hospitals, clinics, sports arenas, theaters and numerous other places. Smoking would be allowed in bars, casinos, retail tobacco businesses, hotel rooms designated for smokers, private homes and automobiles and in designated smoking areas.

In testifying for the bill, Lafayette cardiovascular surgeon Mitchell Lirtzman said such a ban would be “the greatest advance in public heath since the polio vaccine.” He said such a ban would “tell our citizens we care about them, we car about their children.”

Former smoker and lung cancer survivor Terry Sawyer of West Monroe said smoker always claim to have a right to smoke but “they do not have the right to subject others to their second-hand smoke.”

Marionneaux said 11 states and numerous cities ban smoking in restaurants and some included bars, but he omitted bars and casinos from his bill as a political move. He tried last year but his bill was defeated by casino and bar interests.

Leah Simon, owner of Sunami sushi restaurants in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, said she “absolutely didn’t want to have smoking in my restaurant,” so it is banned in Baton Rouge. She said she would like to have the same rule in Lafayette but the politics of that decision are different.