VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE! HE IS AGAINST THE PRIVATE BUSINESS OWNERS!
Posted on 02/26/2006 9:40:07 AM PST by SheLion
The senator who introduced legislation to prohibit smoking in most public, indoor spaces in Virginia requested another hearing for the bill yesterday after its defeat in a House subcommittee.
But the two House of Delegates members who could most easily revive the measure said they will not do so.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, would have prohibited smoking in restaurants and other indoor places accessible to the public with few exceptions. It passed the Senate 21-18 but was unanimously rejected by a six-member House General Laws subcommittee Thursday night.
Under rules adopted by the House this year, subcommittees can defeat legislation. In a letter to House Speaker William J. Howell yesterday, Bell objected to that procedure and requested a hearing in the full committee.
"Allowing 6 percent of the House of Delegates to determine the fate of a bill that has already received a majority vote in the Senate is hardly a fair hearing," Bell's letter said.
"We can all agree that the House can set its own rules for how to deal with House bills but I believe, as do many of my colleagues, that a bill that has been fully vetted by the Senate deserves more consideration than a six-member subcommittee."
Neither Howell, R-Stafford, nor the chairman of the General Laws committee, Del. John S. Reid, R-Henrico, said they would consider resurrecting the legislation. "It had a fair hearing, and it was defeated 0-6," Howell said in an interview. "It would have had the same fate before the full committee, I am confident."
Howell said he thinks the rule allowing subcommittees to kill legislation has worked well.
Bell also cited public support for the measure as a reason to bring it before a full committee. Speaking to reporters yesterday, he said opinion polls have shown strong support for new restrictions on smoking in public places. Public-health groups that lobbied for the proposal said supporters around the state sent about 13,000 e-mails to lawmakers.
Howell said he agreed with opponents that the government should not mandate whether businesses allow smoking. "It's a situation where the free-market should be allowed to take care of things," he said. "This bill went too far in encroaching on people's rights."
Reid said he would have considered bringing the bill before the full committee if it had received two or three votes in the subcommittee.
Supporters of the bill "did need to show that it had some support in the subcommittee, and they didn't," he said. "I know [Bell] is disappointed, because he worked hard on the bill, but I don't think it merits changing the rules that we have used during this session."
Reid expressed sympathy for the goal of the legislation to limit indoor smoking. "I think it has been shown there is some receptiveness to it in the commonwealth," he said. "If [Bell] were to work on it before the next session, he might win some more votes."
VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE! HE IS AGAINST THE PRIVATE BUSINESS OWNERS!
I apologize to the Communistwealth of Virginia for this little p*ssy who's from the county I grew up in.
This not an election year in Virginia for the Legislature.
You have to admit that if the source of the smoke was from something other than tobacco, this would be a no-brainer!
When cigarettes are outlawed, only the outlaws will have cigarettes! Any how, y'all that like fast food and liquor and video games{yup, there's a thread on FR about making it a crime to let children have acess to some}and what-not, will probably be next. Then they'll be squallin, but we thought it would only be cigarettes! When you take something away from one group to please another, it is wrong. Period. That is a lib's way of thinking. This country was not founded on such communistic principals.
What an arrogant azzhole. And a Republican to boot!
Looks like yet another fag to me.
Of course not. If it were, he wouldn't have tried it.
Of course not. If it were, he wouldn't have tried it. They all count on anger fading by election time, no matter what the issues are/were. There needs to be a concerted effort to get this ba$tard out of office next time.
Last year was an election year here and they tried it.....and they were royally defeated. Next year is an election year and if he tries to bring it back, I don't believe it will get as much support.
Apparently it was a well known secret it had no legs in the House and so some Senators felt they were safe in voting for it. Bell is desperate, he had to do a lot of arm twisting to get 2 votes in the senate switched so it would pass. The first go around it was defeated, and a few days later he brought it back up........
Yes. A little light in the loafers.
So many important issues right now. American support for our war effort, free speech on the line via self-censorship, eminant domain, U.A.E. taking over the operation of key ports, american companies collaborating with red chinese thought police and thugs, death penalty stymied because it's not an absolute certainty that no pain is felt for a few seconds (and did anybody witnessing an eloctrocution or gas chamber execution ever doubt there was a few minutes of pain involved?). An abortion showdown at SCOTUS soon (thanks God), and on and on and on.
So many important issues, so little time each of has on earth.
OK- try to burn some incense at your favorite restaurant or use your grill indoors at work- ain't gonna be well received, so explain why tobacco smoke is any different!
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