Senate panel endorses statewide smoking ban in Texas
05/12/2009
AUSTIN – A Senate panel endorsed a statewide smoking ban Monday after authors agreed to exempt cigar bars, patios of restaurants and bars, and nursing homes.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said the compromises were necessary to resuscitate the measure, which he called a matter of life and death.
"It goes a long way toward reducing the incidence of cancer in Texas," he said of his bill.
It cleared the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on a 5-3 vote.
Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, joined the panel's four Democrats in voting for the measure.
Ellis called the bill "much stronger" than a companion measure in the House that was watered down by a committee Friday to exempt most of the state's counties, limit enforcement and carve out many loopholes for bars.
Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, said he voted against the ban because his libertarian strain trumped his concern about public health.
"For me, it's a constitutional, personal property issue," said Deuell, a doctor. "I don't think we have a right to tell somebody what to do with their personal property."
The Senate's new version would protect people from secondhand smoke in all indoor and public work places, including restaurants and bars, though their patios would be exempt.
Cigar bars also would be exempt.
Although 25 states have passed similar laws, Ellis said to add Texas to the list, he must beat both the clock and a Senate rule.
Only three weeks remain in the session, and Ellis needs 21 of the 31 senators to go along to bring his measure to the floor. Tobacco interests "are trying to kill this bill," he added.
Jeff Knisley, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, a member of Smoke-Free Texas, praised Nelson as a "strong leader in the fight against cancer, low-birth-weight births and other diseases in Texas."
