Smoking ban bill up in air

Foes playing tug of war with Smoke-Free Workplace

By Richard Locker, Commercial Appeal
May 22, 2007

NASHVILLE -- It's hard to tell whether Big Tobacco or anti-smoking advocates are winning the legislative battle over the bill to ban smoking in restaurants and most other workplaces in Tennessee.

For nearly an hour Monday night, the Senate debated the Smoke-Free Workplace bill, approved and rejected various amendments, then postponed a final vote after both sides won and lost a round or two.

Senators voted 15-12 to adopt an amendment that would enact the more comprehensive smoking ban favored by the Smoke-Free Tennessee Coalition and Gov. Phil Bredesen. It would exempt only private residences and automobiles unless they are used for child-care services, designated smoking rooms in hotels and motels, and tobacco shops that permit smoking.

Sen. Paul Stanley, R-Germantown, urged rejection of that amendment, saying that what people really want is a prohibition on smoking in restaurants and that to go beyond that could lead to the bill's defeat.

Senators then turned down, 14-13, another amendment that would allow smoking in private clubs, bars that admit only adults, nursing homes, tobacco shops and businesses with three or fewer employees.

Then, opponents of the bill tried to delete everything from it except a smoking ban only in buildings owned, leased or operated by state, city and county governments. But when senators who favor the most comprehensive smoking ban attempted to kill that effort, they failed.

Amendments can pass or fail with a simple majority of those present and voting, but neither side ever won the 17 votes required to pass a bill in the 33-member Senate, due largely to the absence of three members and two or three others who abstained on some of the votes.

Sen. Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, was the only West Tennessee senator absent. When it became clear that neither side was likely to prevail, Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, postponed a vote on his bill to Thursday.

In the House, the bill is set for a crucial vote this morning in the Agriculture Committee, where the bill has been bottled up for five months.

Despite the Senate setback, anti-smoking activists said Monday night they're not discouraged. "We're very encouraged by tonight's actions because they show renewed commitment by legislators to work towards comprehensive smoke-free workplaces," said Margie Maddux Newman of the Smoke-Free Tennessee Coalition.