Posted on 06/11/2008 9:26:29 AM PDT by Daveinyork
HARRISBURG -- The state Senate has broken a yearlong stalemate on a statewide smoking ban, approving a compromise bill Tuesday that would make Pennsylvania the 33rd state to outlaw smoking in many workplaces and public spaces. The Senate voted 41-9, sending the bill to Gov. Ed Rendell to be signed into law in what supporters hailed as a step forward for public health and protecting people from the dangers of second-hand smoke.
All but one senator representing parts of York County gave approval. The sole holdout was retiring Sen. Terry Punt, R-Franklin, who voted in favor of the same legislation last week when the Senate turned it down.
Punt could not be reached for comment to explain his change of heart.
He represents Heidelberg, Paradise and Dover townships and Dover Borough as well as all of Franklin and Adams counties.
Sen. Mike Waugh, R-Shrewsbury, said the bill was probably as good as he could have hoped.
"I think it's a product that is the result of good work," said Waugh, who represents most of York County.
Rendell, who has advocated a smoking ban as a way to reduce health care costs, has said he plans to sign the bill. Secondhand smoke is linked to numerous diseases, including cancer.
Opponents have derided the bill as big government playing havoc with small business owners, potentially hurting neighborhood taverns and eateries where people stay for hours, smoking.
90 days: It would take effect 90 days after being signed into law,
(Excerpt) Read more at yorkdispatch.inyork.com ...
Are the new PA casinos included in the ban????
from the article in the York Dispatch:
ALLOWS SMOKING AT
Drinking establishments where food is 20 percent or less of annual sales.
A designated outdoor smoking area at a sports or recreation facility, theater or performance establishment.
Private clubs.
Up to 25 percent of the rooms in a lodging establishment, like a hotel or motel, and all rooms at full-service truck stops.
Up to 25 percent of a casino floor, and up to 50 percent if a casino can prove to the state Department of Revenue that the smoking ban is harming its business.
Nursing homes, adult-care facilities, drug and alcohol treatment facilities and mental health care facilities.
Private residences and private vehicles, unless the residence or vehicle is being used for child-care or adult-care services.
Cigar bars that are connected to a tobacco shop or where tobacco-related products total at least 15 percent of annual sales.
Tobacco shops; manufacturers, importers and wholesalers of tobacco products; manufacturers of tobacco-related products.
Tobacco-promotion events, or fundraisers for nonprofit and charitable organizations where cigars are featured.
This is the only beginning....wait until they go after SUVs or motorcycles or whatever else the libs think is bad. And this is why, we as conservatives, should never accept THEIR premise.
Puff
Thanks for the ping. Lady Liberty weeps.
Fixed it.
I'm a non-smoker, and I agree that smoking bans are a ridiculous overreach of government authority. The frog, once again, is blissfully unaware that the water in the pot is quickly coming to a boil ...
But ladies Whiney and Hyperbole are ecstatic.
I have long given up hope that you would understand the concept of private property rights and individual liberty. You have made it clear that you depend on the government to protect you from having to wash your clothes.
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