NH State News
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State still debating enforcement of smoking ban; Work will likely fall to local health officials
July 29, 2007
Rebecca Correa
In 11/2 months, the state’s bars, restaurants and clubs will become smoke free and local health officials fear enforcement will fall to them.
Rebecca Correa
In 11/2 months, the state’s bars, restaurants and clubs will become smoke free and local health officials fear enforcement will fall to them.
State Public Health Director Mary Anne Cooney said her department is creating a set of interim rules that will outline who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the smoking ban, and finalize those rules by Sept. 1.
The law that prohibits smoking in restaurants and bars will go into effect Sept. 17.
Since no funding was attached to the smoking-ban bill, Cooney said, it’s likely local health officials and law enforcement agencies will have to do some of the enforcement.
The state’s smoking prevention and cessation team has six employees, whose partial responsibilities include making sure businesses across the state are in compliance with the law.
The team, funded with about $330,000 in federal grants, also works on tobacco prevention programs and is not expected to grow in size, according to Cooney.
While Southern New Hampshire health officers agree the smoking ban is a good thing, they also said the law should have come with funding attached for enforcement.
Londonderry Health Officer Jim Smith, who also serves as the town’s building inspector, said until last week he hadn’t even considered who would enforce the law – and he certainly didn’t think it would be him.
“As being a lifelong nonsmoker, I like the idea (of the law),” he said. “But one of the things that I’ve always had a problem with is when a law or rule gets passed and there isn’t an effective way to enforce it, it’s usually going to make others’ lives more difficult.”
Londonderry has about 140 food establishments, which means Smith might have his work cut out for him. If the enforcement duties fall to him, he said, “We’ll just have to play it by ear,” but it could require a full-time health officer.
Like most health officers in Southern New Hampshire, Smith is only part time. Only Salem, Plaistow and Derry have full-time health inspectors. Most other towns have a part-time officer, who often holds several other town positions.
Windham Health Officer Alfred Turner works in the town’s planning and development office, and is also in charge of building inspection, new road construction and town engineering.
Turner agrees the law shouldn’t have been passed with no funding, because towns don’t have the money in their budgets to make sure businesses are in compliance.
“It could be primarily a weekend and night job, but we don’t really have overtime money for anything like that,” he said. “When the state passes a law that has no provisions whatsoever for enforcement, it just becomes a political statement that doesn’t mean anything.”
Turner said his duties as health officer take up about a third of his time, but smoking compliance checks would increase that amount.
Restaurant and bar owners who break the new law could have their restaurant license suspended or even revoked, according to Greg Moore, spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
Moore said local police officers may even be required to step in to deal with repeat violators of the law. He said a history of noncompliance could result in the business owner being brought to court for contempt.
While Salem Health Inspector Brian Lockard said he doesn’t have a problem talking to businesses about the law during twice-annual inspections, he’s not looking forward to becoming the enforcer of the law.
“It can make it difficult if they ask us for enforcement,” he said. “That’s where the question mark is, because I don’t know that (health inspectors) are legally protected to do that.”
Lockard said there are about 35 bars and restaurants in town that still allow smoking.
But Cooney said health inspectors don’t need to worry right away, because nothing about the enforcement rules is definite.
“We don’t know for sure yet, because we have not completely written the rules,” she said. “Whatever model we would use, we would, of course, have to depend on a little cooperation from local health inspectors and health officers.”
Cooney said the interim rules should be finalized by the end of August. The commissioner would have to approve the rules. She said the rules can be amended, if the state feels they are not effective, and become part of a finalized version published by Jan. 1, 2008.
Smoking ban in bars, restaurants signed into law
June 19, 2007
By NORMA LOVE, Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Gov. John Lynch signed a law Tuesday banning smoking in New Hampshire’s bars and restaurants.
By NORMA LOVE, Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Gov. John Lynch signed a law Tuesday banning smoking in New Hampshire’s bars and restaurants.
“The science is clear _ second-hand smoke poses a dangerous health risk, and that is why this new law is so important,” Lynch said.
More than a dozen states and hundreds of cities and counties around the country ban smoking in restaurants, bars or both. New Hampshire was the only state in New England that did neither.
The law will take effect in 90 days.
Supporters said the ban was needed to protect workers and customers from the health risks of second-hand smoke.
“Smoking is banned in almost every other workplace in New Hampshire,” Lynch said. “We should not continue to subject our hard-working citizens in the restaurant industry to the harmful dangers of second-hand smoke.”
Opponents argued for education instead. They said restaurant and bar owners should decide when or if to ban smoking, not the state.
They tried unsuccessfully to carve out an exception for “fully enclosed” smoking rooms in some businesses. The rooms would have been required to have separate ventilation systems, and employees would have been able to choose whether to enter them.
But ban supporters said allowing smoking rooms would make it difficult for workers to say no to their employers. They said the rooms would be bad for smokers and their children, and for anyone seated near their doors.
“Those who wait tables or tend bar in our restaurants must work to make ends meet, to pay the rent, to provide for their children,” Lynch said. “Without this law, many of them would have no choice but to inhale dangerous second-hand smoke, putting their health in jeopardy.”
Sen. David Gottesman, D-Nashua, the prime sponsor, said New Hampshire has a duty to protect the public’s health.
“Our workers deserve to have a safe working environment,” he said.
Social, fraternal and religious organizations and their private events are exempt from the ban. Smoking is permitted at the organizations’ public events, such as bingo nights, only if smoking areas can be segregated effectively.
New Hampshire already bans smoking in public buildings, offices and work places, except in smoking areas that are effectively segregated from nonsmoking areas.
Smoking also is banned in schools, child care agencies, hospitals, grocery stores, elevators, buses, tramways and gondolas.
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On the Net:
Smoke-free: But not living free
Jun. 3, 2007
After last week, New Hampshire adults will remain free to decide for themselves whether to wear their seat belts, but not whether to enjoy tobacco smoke while at a bar, nightclub or restaurant.
New Hampshire is slowly regressing. What the Left calls “progress” is really a steady slide backward to the time when government could dictate people’s personal behavior.
Last week New Hampshire avoided a large regression. The Senate voted 16-8 against requiring adults to wear seat belts just because doing so is good for them. That was a resounding triumph for New Hampshire tradition and values, and the senators who voted against that bill should congratulate themselves for a job well done.
But that victory was mitigated by the smaller backward step taken when the House voted 224-117 to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
It is easy to forget that our liberties, though granted by God, had to be won by force of arms. Freedom is not our natural state. The strong dominating the weak is humanity’s natural state.
Government is supposed to protect the weak from the strong, not dictate everyone’s behavior. When it does so, it moves backwards, not forwards. Progress is the movement toward greater liberty.
We cannot be both smoke-free and free. Achieving the former injures the latter. Perhaps the next Legislature will realize that and repeal this condescending, unnecessary law.
N.H. bans smoking in bars, restaurants
May 31, 2007
By PHILIP ELLIOTT Associated Press Writer
By PHILIP ELLIOTT Associated Press Writer
CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire will soon ban smoking in bars and restaurants, becoming the last state in New England to do so.
The House approved a bill Thursday imposing the ban after a similar bill died in the Senate last year. Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign it, and it will take effect 90 days after he signs it.
More than a dozen states and hundreds of cities and counties around the country ban smoking in restaurants, bars or both.
Supporters say the ban is needed to protect workers and customers from the health risks of secondhand smoke.
“Employees should not be forced to sign away their health to earn a living,” said Rep. Tara Reardon, a Concord Democrat. “This bill is not antismoker. It is antismoke.”
Opponents argued the state should instead educate the public about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke. They also said restaurant and bar owners should decide when or if to ban smoking, not the state.
“The last time I checked, it was a legal activity,” said Rep. John Hunt, a Republican.
An amendment to ban smoking in social and religious organizations and another to exempt businesses with ventilated smoking rooms both failed.
New Hampshire already bans smoking in public places such as offices, schools and hospitals.
Also Thursday, legislators in Tennessee sent Gov. Phil Bredesen a bill that would ban smoking in most indoor workplaces, including restaurants but not bars. State Health Commissioner Susan Cooper said he planned to sign it.
Smoking in NH bars, restaurants will soon be history
May. 31, 2007
By JOHN DISTASO, Senior Political Reporter
By JOHN DISTASO, Senior Political Reporter
Concord – The New Hampshire House today approved a ban on smoking in restaurants, cocktail lounges and some other public places, moving the bill to Gov. John Lynch, who is expected to sign it into law.
The vote today was 224-117, coming after a 216-135 vote rejecting a proposed amendment to allow separate “smoking rooms” in restaurant and lounges.
The Senate passed the bill 17-7 in February and Lynch has said he supports it.
When he signs it into law, New Hampshire will join 16 other states, including all of New England, in banning smoking in restaurants and bars. The bill takes effect 90 days after it is signed.
The bill also bans smoking in state-licensed public educational facilities, hospitals, grocery stores, elevators, tramways, gondolas and “other such public conveyances.” It exempts members-only private bars operated by social, fraternal or religious organizations unless they are also open to the general public.
House panel OK’s bar, restaurant smoking ban
5/16/07
CONCORD – A bill banning smoking in all bars and restaurants passed a House committee vote 11-7 yesterday.
Supporters of the bill turned aside a move to allow separate smoking rooms in bars or restaurants where owners gave employees the option not to work in them.
Sen. David Gottesman, D-Nashua, the original bill’s prime sponsor said, “The amendment was an attempt to meet the needs of a very few people while continuing to subject others to well-documented health hazards.
The Senate voted 17-7 in February to pass the measure, SB 42. It is worded the same as a smoking ban bill the House passed in 2006.
The bill is expected to go to the full House for a vote on May 30.
New Hampshire would join 16 other states, and all of New England, if the bill passes. Gov. John Lynch supports it.
“This was a closely watched vote and a bi-partisan group of representatives demonstrated great leadership today. We truly appreciate their effort to keep this legislation on track,” said Sarah Chaisson Warner on behalf of the Clean Air Works for New Hampshire coalition.
Cigarette smoking sparks bans at state, local levels
May 14, 2007
By Cyra Master , Staff Writer Eagle-Tribune
By Cyra Master , Staff Writer Eagle-Tribune
With a possible ban in the works and a proposal to increase the tax on cigarettes, the “Live Free or Die” state is becoming less friendly to smokers.
Cigarettes have become the target of legislation in New Hampshire at both the local and state levels. While earlier this year the Senate passed a bill banning smoking in restaurants and bars, that same measure is now being discussed by a House committee.
And in communities across the state, municipal officials are drafting their bans.
In Londonderry, an ordinance was adopted about six months ago to prohibit smoking within 20 feet of municipal doorways and gates to town properties. A sign outside the door to the town offices alerts smokers of the ban.
Tonight, a proposal will be considered in Windham to prohibit smoking on all municipal property – including the beach and recreation areas. Smoking is already prohibited indoors.
Many who oppose the smoking bans, locally and at the state level, invoke the state motto “Live Free or Die.”
“In general, we don’t believe in forcing people to do things on that type of level,” said Tracey Brogan, 32, of Derry, a nonsmoker. “It’s a personal freedom thing.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan, who supported the state smoking ban in the Senate, said the motto doesn’t just apply to people who smoke.
“Live Free or Die belongs to every citizen of the state and one person’s freedom can limit another person’s freedom sometimes,” said Hassan, D-Exeter.
Representatives from local branches of national health organizations think the shift toward smoking bans is a reflection of nonsmokers asserting their rights.
“I believe it’s because of the preponderance of scientific evidence that has come out in recent years, talking not only about primary tobacco use but secondary smoke,” said Nancy Pederzini, advocacy director for the American Heart Association of New Hampshire. “People realize that nonsmokers have as much of a right to breath clean, smoke-free air as a smoker does using a tobacco product.”
Londonderry Town Councilor Mark Oswald said he hasn’t heard any complaints since the ban was enacted in his community and the town has not had to fine anyone for breaking the rule.
“I’ve actually had a lot of compliments from people saying it’s long overdue,” Oswald said.
Oswald, who originally proposed a ban on smoking on all public property in Londonderry, said he acted on behalf of those who elected him.
“The reason I initiated this was I had constituents calling me in concern, particularly about their children,” Oswald said. “I think each town has to represent the best interests of the people that elected you and that’s what I was doing.”
A handful of cities and towns have acted ahead of the state, which is now debating Senate Bill 42.
Keene passed the state’s first restaurant smoking ban in 2001. In Manchester, smoking is prohibited at circuses, carnivals and other amusement venues. In Concord, the use of all tobacco products is prohibited at six of the city’s public parks and playgrounds. The remaining parks have specific areas for tobacco use.
Christine MacDonale, 42, of Londonderry said she thinks smoking bans are good idea.
“It’s not a good role model for kids in an athletic environment,” said MacDonale, who admitted to occasionally smoking. “Kids are going to learn from what they see, not what you tell them.”
But not everyone thinks the government should step in.
“The bottom line is you have the right to walk away (from smokers),” said State Rep. Al Baldasaro, R-Londonderry. “It’s a freedom thing.”
An online advocacy group called The Smokers Group Inc. works to prevent anti-smoking bans from being passed. Regional Director Gary Nolan said the nonprofit group is about property rights, not smokers rights. The organization views smoking bans as opposing the free market.
“Suppose the smokers got together and passed a law forcing smoking in nonsmoking restaurants,” Nolan said. “You would call that the tyranny of the majority and that’s what we’re practicing here.”
About 20 percent of New Hampshire adults smoke, said Beth D’Ovidio, director of communications for the American Lung Association of New Hampshire.
“This is a democracy and I think it’s interesting, I have spoken to many people who are smokers who still don’t want to dine in a smoking atmosphere,” D’Ovidio said.
Baldasaro said the choice should be left to restaurant owners and customers.
“If I don’t want to take my kids to a restaurant where there’s cigarettes, that’s my choice,” Baldasaro said. “It’s not the government’s choice.”
In Windham, tonight’s public hearing begins at 7:30 in the Planning and Development department.
Version of smoking ban allows ‘fully enclosed’ smoking rooms
May 11, 2007
CONCORD, N.H. –Lawmakers are revisiting a proposed smoking ban in New Hampshire’s restaurants and bars.
The Senate passed the ban earlier this year; it hasn’t gone to the full House yet.
A version of the proposal supported by a House subcommittee allows “fully enclosed” smoking rooms in the businesses. Smoking rooms would be kept on two conditions: The rooms must have separate ventilation systems, and employees must be able to choose whether to enter them.
Proponents of the ban argued that it would be difficult for workers to say “no” to their employers and that the rooms would be bad for the health of smokers and their children, as well as anyone seated near the door of the smoking room.
“The more I thought about it, the less I thought that this is a good solution,” said James Martin, a Republican from Sanbornville who cast the lone subcommittee vote against the amendment. “I think creating smoking rooms in the 21st century is really a step backward.”
The full commerce committee will take up the ban Tuesday. If the smoking-room amendment is supported, Beth D’Ovidio, a spokeswoman for the American Lung Association and others said they will take their case for a complete ban to the House floor and try to have the amendment killed there.
Last year, a smoking ban passed the House but failed by a single vote in the Senate, which passed the same language in February.
Rep. Ed Butler, a Democrat from Hart’s Location who sponsored the amendment, said he thinks it’s a “reasonable and narrow compromise” that protects public health while providing an option to smokers and businesses.
Butler predicted that only a small number of restaurants would be willing to invest in creating the smoking room under the rules outlined in his proposal. The amendment stipulates that people working in the smoking room would have to “sign a form which clearly states the potential dangers of inhaling second-hand smoke and that the employee chose to work in such area.”
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Commentary: Anti-smoking crusade is divisive, destructive and wasteful
May 1, 2007
By Linda Bogardus
La Conner, Wash.
By Linda Bogardus
La Conner, Wash.
Although I am not a resident of New Hampshire, I believe the smoking bans are an infringement on personal liberty, no matter what state they occur in.
It is always stated by government agencies and the media that there are about 400,000 deaths annually from the use of tobacco products. The current population of the United States is about 300 million. Just once, I would like to see this statistic reported like this: Tobacco products are responsible for 400,000 deaths annually in the United States, or about 0.001 percent (less than one tenth of one percent) of the total population.
Instead, media reporting about this issue always places the singular emphasis on the one big scary number in the absence of any sort of context whatsoever.
I do not mean to minimize any of the deaths attributable to tobacco use; not even one. I would just like to see the statistics reported differently, in a way that encompasses the overall picture of the issue. But certain statistics are deliberately not presented in a comparative manner.
The overly zealous war on tobacco and tobacco users is not justified at the level it is being pursued, per the true statistics; it is merely a perceived threat manufactured by the big pharmaceutical companies selling their smoking cessation products, the media, the government and the do-gooder groups that are all too willing to help spend the billions of dollars garnered from the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement (MSA) of 1998, thereby ensuring themselves a job and a good salary for many years to come.
What a lucky nation we are to have one of our most threatening public health issues occupying a position three spaces to the right of the decimal point. And what a foolish nation we are to devote so much time, energy and resources to it, especially at the expense of individual liberties and free enterprise. It has only served to create new financial hardships for businesses and tobacco users alike, and, more importantly, divide our nation into two distinct social camps, smokers and non-smokers with all the disdain and animosity toward each other that is normally attached to differing clusters of society.
What the anti-tobacco crusade has done is give neurotic zealots something to grab onto, provided an abundance of new jobs and new tax shelters for all the “nonprofit” health groups springing up all over the world, in addition to creating expansion opportunities for the existing organizations. Simultaneously, the crusade has unjustly punished a minority of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who have a preference for tobacco use by way of exorbitant and disproportionate taxation and has created a social bias and “labeling” reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.
I can think of no other contemporary issue (a social issue that is thinly disguised as a public health issue) whereby the “solution” has caused so much detriment to our society. Not only have the anti-tobacco measures not helped anybody to any significant degree, they have instead caused a great deal of physical, financial, and psychological harm to many people.
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‘Health’ vs. liberty: Choose wisely, NH
April 19, 2007
AS THE House prepares to take up Sen. Dave Gottesman’s bill to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, it must consider what the bill is really about.
Testifying before the House Commerce Committee, Sen. Gottesman, D-Nashua, said “This is not a referendum on our great state motto, ‘Live free or die.’ It is a health issue.”
But it is about nothing other than the very essence of our state motto – the ability to live free from government interference.
The bill will prohibit Granite Staters from associating on private property, in the confines of private, for-profit businesses, for the mutual enjoyment of smoked tobacco.
This is not a health issue. The number of bars and restaurants that allow smoking is rapidly dwindling. No one who wishes to work in a smoke-free environment need work in an establishment that allows smoking. Those who do CHOOSE to, as do the patrons.
This bill will replace people’s individual choices with one made collectively by the state. It is an unmistakable violation of the principle espoused in the state motto. It should be killed, and the people left free to decide on their own whether they want to eat and drink amid the smoke of burning tobacco leaves.
Libertarian Political Report
4/18/07
by Eric Dondero
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Breaking News!!!
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Libertarian Party may now have a State Legislator in New Hampshire
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As in most instances, readers of LPR are the very (!) first to know the breaking news.? We are even beating the Libertarian Party National Headquarters with this announcement.
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This is still being confirmed by LP Political Director Stephen Gordon as we speak, but it appears that the Libertarian Party now has a State Legislator.? She is State Rep. Bea Franceoeur of Nashua.? Ms. Franceoeur was elected as a Republican.? However, over the weekend she attended the State LP Nominating Convention (mandated by state election law), and was nominated by the LP for Governor.? She accepted.?
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At first it appeared that the LP was endorsing a Republican for Governor. The Manchester Union-Leader seemed to suggest that in an article about the Convention, (link at http://www.mainstreamlibertarian.com/)?
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But now comes word from a State LP leader that in fact, Ms. Franceoeur will be running on the Libertarian ticket.
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A Google search on Rep. Franceour finds that she’s a bit of a folk hero, having recently fought repressive speed limits in a court case.?
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Story still developing…?
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by Eric Dondero
?
Breaking News!!!
?
Libertarian Party may now have a State Legislator in New Hampshire
?
As in most instances, readers of LPR are the very (!) first to know the breaking news.? We are even beating the Libertarian Party National Headquarters with this announcement.
?
This is still being confirmed by LP Political Director Stephen Gordon as we speak, but it appears that the Libertarian Party now has a State Legislator.? She is State Rep. Bea Franceoeur of Nashua.? Ms. Franceoeur was elected as a Republican.? However, over the weekend she attended the State LP Nominating Convention (mandated by state election law), and was nominated by the LP for Governor.? She accepted.?
?
At first it appeared that the LP was endorsing a Republican for Governor. The Manchester Union-Leader seemed to suggest that in an article about the Convention, (link at http://www.mainstreamlibertarian.com/)?
?
But now comes word from a State LP leader that in fact, Ms. Franceoeur will be running on the Libertarian ticket.
?
A Google search on Rep. Franceour finds that she’s a bit of a folk hero, having recently fought repressive speed limits in a court case.?
?
Story still developing…?
?
Libertarian Republicans
For the latest libertarian political news http://www.mainstreamlibertarian.com
Eric Dondero is a US Navy Veteran, former Libertarian Party National Committeeman, Founder of the Republican Liberty Caucus and fmr. Senior Aide to US Congressman Ron Paul R-TX.? He is now a national Republican Political Consultant based in Houston, Texas. More
For the latest libertarian political news http://www.mainstreamlibertarian.com
Eric Dondero is a US Navy Veteran, former Libertarian Party National Committeeman, Founder of the Republican Liberty Caucus and fmr. Senior Aide to US Congressman Ron Paul R-TX.? He is now a national Republican Political Consultant based in Houston, Texas. More
Tobacco shops worry restaurant smoking ban
April 16, 2007
April 16, 2007
SALEM, N.H. –More than two dozen cigar and tobacco shop owners are working together to oppose efforts to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
A ban on smoking in New Hampshire’s bars and restaurants passed the Senate in February. Last year, the House passed a smoking ban but it was defeated in the Senate.
A ban on smoking in New Hampshire’s bars and restaurants passed the Senate in February. Last year, the House passed a smoking ban but it was defeated in the Senate.
This year, as the House prepares to take up the bill, 27 cigar and tobacco shops are organizing to testify against the ban, even though smoke shops would be exempt.
Business owners like David Garofalo, who runs Two Guys Smoke Shop in Salem, said he fears business will suffer because people will cut down on smoking and buy less.
“I have a problem being the exemption. This bill is worse than it looks,” he said.
“We’re going from someone buying a box of cigars to a single cigar that they’ll smoke here.”
Garofalo moved his shop from Boston 12 years ago when Massachusetts introduced extra tobacco taxes.
“For years I couldn’t be happier and now I’m scared,” he said.
He would like the state to stay out of regulating where people can and can’t smoke and let business owners make that decision.
Victor Vitale of the Cigar Agency in Nashua is organizing the anti-ban testimony from cigar and tobacco business owners.
Ban supporters say it is needed to protect restaurant workers and customers from second hand smoke. Vitale sees it differently.
“It’s very much an uphill battle because I believe we’re looked at as the bad guy,” he said. “Take the smoking out of it and look at the freedoms and liberty at stake.”
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Cilley discusses vote against smoking ban
Foster’s Daily Democrat – Dover,NH,USA
ROCHESTER — Being the sole Democrat to vote against a smoking ban in restaurants and bars is a “lonely place to be,” but state Sen. …
Foster’s Daily Democrat – Dover,NH,USA
ROCHESTER — Being the sole Democrat to vote against a smoking ban in restaurants and bars is a “lonely place to be,” but state Sen. …
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NH takes first step to ban smoking in bars, restaurants
NH takes first step to ban smoking in bars, restaurants
February 22, 2007
By Norma Love, Associated Press Writer?
By Norma Love, Associated Press Writer?
CONCORD, N.H. –New Hampshire moved a step closer to its New England neighbors Thursday when the state Senate voted to ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
The bill still must pass the House; supporters are optimistic it will.
Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign it.
Last year, the same measure passed the House easily but died on a 12-11 vote in the Senate. This year, the bipartisan 17-7 vote to approve the same bill is partly due to Democrats assuming control of the chamber in November.
More than a dozen states and hundreds of cities and counties around the country ban smoking in restaurants, bars or both. New Hampshire is the only state in New England that does neither.
“Everyone deserves a safe work environment and once this bill becomes law, people will no longer have to choose between their health and their livelihood,” said Daniel Fortin, president of the American Lung Association in New Hampshire.
Sen. David Gottesman, D-Nashua, the measure’s prime sponsor, argued the state should implement the ban to protect workers and customers from the health risks of exposure to second-hand smoke.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to broaden the ban, arguing restaurant and bar owners shouldn’t be the only ones regulated.
“If this is about health, it should be about everybody’s health,” said Senate Republican Leader Ted Gatsas.
They offered amendments that would ban smoking at: outdoor events where teens under 18 were expected, such as ballgames; public buildings and offices and within 50 feet of the entrance, including the Statehouse; guest rooms, halls, ballrooms and conference rooms at motels, hotels and resorts; buildings operated by social, fraternal or religious organizations, such as the VFW; nursing homes and similar institutions; foster homes and foster group homes; resident rooms in college dorms and rooms in public housing; and outdoor events attended by 50 or more people.
Democrats — led by Gottesman — defeated Republican attempts to expand the bill. Democrats offered to file a new bill to ban smoking in the additional areas so public hearings could be held on them.
“This is a step forward,” said Gottesman. “Sometimes we have to take baby steps.”
“If we’re not prepared to protect seniors and foster children in their homes, then we should not protect cocktail waitresses who can get another job,” said Gatsas.
Gatsas chided Democrats for even being unwilling to ban smoking on the Statehouse’s front porch where smokers gather, including lawmakers. School children on tours regularly must pass through the smoke to get into the building, he said.
“We want to govern other people, but we don’t want to govern ourselves,” said Gatsas of Manchester.
Sen. Jack Barnes said he agreed that second-hand smoke is unhealthy, but businesses should decide whether to ban smoking on their premises.
“It should be up to the business owners if they want to (go smoke-free) and if they’re stupid enough not to do it and people are stupid enough to go there, God bless them,” said Barnes, R-Raymond.
New Hampshire already bans smoking in public buildings, offices and workplaces, except in special smoking areas as long as the smoke is segregated from non-smoking areas. Smoking also is banned in buildings owned and operated by social, fraternal and religious organizations when they are made available to the public for events such as bingo. Smoking is allowed in the buildings if it can be effectively segregated.
Smoking also is banned in schools, child care agencies during operating hours, hospitals, grocery stores, elevators, tramways, gondolas and public conveyances.
NH Senate panel favors smoking ban in restaurants, bars
Foster’s Daily Democrat – Dover,NH,USA
ROCHESTER — Considering the votes cast Tuesday, it’s probably a good thing Shari Gadwah, manager of The Sports Fanatic, doesn’t see a smoking ban in …
NH smoking ban is only first step
Nashua Telegraph (subscription) – Nashua,NH,USA
So then, a new law creating a smoking ban in New Hampshire is a virtual certainty under the Democratic-controlled legislature. That’ll make a lot of people …
Nashua Telegraph (subscription) – Nashua,NH,USA
So then, a new law creating a smoking ban in New Hampshire is a virtual certainty under the Democratic-controlled legislature. That’ll make a lot of people …
NH bill would ban smoking in restaurants and bars
Boston Herald – Boston,MA,USA
The state should not mandate a smoking ban on business, he said. Tom Gillis, co-owner of TR Brennan’s in Manchester, said he allows smoking in the bar and …
Smoking ban appears set to pass
January 10. 2007
SARAH LIEBOWITZ
After failing by a vote in the New Hampshire Senate last year, a proposed ban on smoking in restaurants and bars appears likely to pass the Legislature this year.
SARAH LIEBOWITZ
After failing by a vote in the New Hampshire Senate last year, a proposed ban on smoking in restaurants and bars appears likely to pass the Legislature this year.
The new Democratic majority in the Senate may bolster support for the ban, which lawmakers will reconsider this year. Last year, the ban passed the House and won the support of all eight Senate Democrats. But the opposition of most Senate Republicans, who denounced the ban as an infringement on the rights of business owners, snuffed the plan.
“This is not a referendum on our great state motto of ‘Live Free or Die.’ We all respect that,” said Sen. David Gottesman, a Nashua Democrat who is sponsoring the smoking ban. “This is an economic issue and a health issue. It will protect New Hampshire workers and their employers from higher medical costs.”
If lawmakers pass the ban, New Hampshire would cease to be the sole New England state that doesn’t bar smoking in restaurants and bars.
In the 24-member Senate, which will debate the bill before the House this year, momentum seems to be with the ban. The Senate includes 10 members who last year voted for the ban, including Republican Sen. Bob Odell, a sponsor of this year’s bill. New Democratic Sens. Harold Janeway of Webster and Molly Kelly of Keene have already signed on to the bill, and Sen. Deb Reynolds of Plymouth said yesterday that she will likely vote for the ban. Most of the other new Democratic senators are leaning toward supporting the ban, Gottesman said.
“I assume it’s certainly more likely to pass this time around,” said Republican Sen. Ted Gatsas, who as Senate president last year opposed the bill.
But that doesn’t mean the bill will pass the Senate quietly. The proposal could resurrect last year’s Senate debate. Backers of the bill cited the adverse health effects of secondhand smoke and said the ban would safeguard the health of bar and restaurant workers and patrons. Opponents, including Gatsas and former Senate majority leader Bob Clegg, criticized the ban as an intrusion on New Hampshire’s ethos.
The choice to go smoke-free, Gatsas said, should rest with business owners.
“As long as you allow businesses to make the decisions, they will make the most sensible one,” he said, citing the dwindling number of restaurants that allow smoking. “There’s no reason why the Legislature should level the playing field.”
Gov. John Lynch has said that he would sign the bill if it passes. Last year, the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars passed the House 189-156 before failing in the Senate. House Speaker Terie Norelli has said that she expects the House will easily pass a ban this session.
Although the proposed ban stirs spirited debate, many restaurants got rid of their ashtrays years ago. A survey last spring of 79 bars and restaurants in Concord yielded 24 that allowed smoking, mostly in designated areas.
Even after the ban failed in the Senate, some restaurant owners decided to do away with smoking. In July, Concord’s Barley House went smoke-free.
“The marketplace dictates what you do, and we listened to our customers,” said Brian Shea, the restaurant’s owner. After a slow summer, lunch and dinner business has grown, in large part because customers can now wait in a smoke-free bar, Shea said.
“I’d rather see the marketplace take care of it than the legislators, but I think the wave is coming,” Shea said. “I think it’s going to happen. It’s inevitable.”
Last year, a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll found that 79 percent of state residents support a smoking ban. According to a report by the American Cancer Society, food service workers are 50 percent more likely to die from lung cancer than other workers, in part because of their frequent exposure to secondhand smoke.
Despite the health risks, some restaurant owners don’t think the decision to go smoke-free should rest with lawmakers.
“What I’m advocating is the freedom of choice,” said Neville Pereira, owner of the Capitol Grille in Concord, which allows smoking. “We do live in the ‘Live Free or Die’ state. Don’t take this choice away from us.”
Yesterday, New Hampshire received failing grades in the American Lung Association annual tobacco report card. The group criticized the state’s cigarette tax, which is 20 cents below the national average of $1 per pack. And state spending on smoking prevention and control lags, the group said.
“Raising the tobacco tax is one of the most important policies that our leaders can adopt to reduce smoking and improve the health of our state,” said Peter Ames, advocacy director for the local American Cancer Society.
Gatsas, Backus debate smoking ban and Real ID
Nov. 6, 2006
Benjamin Kepple
Benjamin Kepple
MANCHESTER – State Senate President Ted Gatsas, R-Manchester, reiterated his opposition to a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars yesterday, while Bob Backus, his Democratic opponent for the District 16 seat, said he would approve of such a ban.
It was just one of several matters the candidates debated yesterday at a forum at Temple Adath Yeshurun, on Prospect Street.
“On the smoking issue, I’m a great believer that businesses make the right decisions,” said Gatsas, who noted that in New York, the city is considering whether to ban artificial trans fats in its restaurants. “Pretty soon, they’re going to tell us we can’t eat ice cream.”
“Eating ice cream, whatever the benefit or the lack of it, doesn’t endanger the person sitting next to you in a restaurant. Secondhand smoke does,” Backus responded.
Gatsas voted against a ban this year; all the Democrats in the Senate voted for it.
The candidates also sparred over the federal Real ID driver’s license program, for which New Hampshire is a pilot state.
Backus opposed Real ID, cautioning about the potential for identity theft associated with the program, which will require driver’s licenses to meet federal standards and have more information than they do now. Gatsas defended the program, which he said came out of recommendations from the federal 9/11 commission.
“There’s no question Real ID makes sense,” Gatsas said.
Smoking ban appears set to pass
