St. Paul Smoking Ban Prompts Drive for Smokefree Legislation Across MN [08/02/04]

St. Paul Smoking Ban Prompts Drive for Smokefree Legislation Across MN [08/02-2]

Excerpts from: Smoking ban: The domino effect

Seated at the table during the May meeting were City Council Member Dave Thune and Jeanne Weigum, president of the Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota, an advocacy group battling public smoking.

As they discussed the issue amid clouds of secondhand smoke, neither knew that the proposal to ban smoking in St. Paul bars and restaurants would unleash a barrage of similar actions in cities and counties around the state. Most of the new proposals will be more far-reaching than earlier ones passed in Moose Lake, Duluth, Cloquet and Olmsted County.

St. Paul's ordinance is still under debate, but in the weeks since it was introduced, Minneapolis, Bloomington and Moorhead have all passed similar bans, and several other governmental units, including Ramsey, Hennepin and Dakota counties and the city of Mankato, are considering the matter.

Insiders say the public smoking issue also is expected to emerge at the state Capitol again early next year and force lawmakers to wrestle with either banning smoking in bars and restaurants statewide or limiting how far cities and counties can go with local anti-smoking ordinances.

So, after years of mostly failures, what generated the sudden and surprising interest in smoking-ban ordinances?

• Four recent public opinion polls — one statewide and three local — found that more than two-thirds of respondents supported smoking bans in bars and restaurants. Public officials pay attention to polls, the insiders explained.

• Mounting scientific evidence shows that secondhand smoke is not just a nuisance, as was falsely claimed for years, but is clearly a serious health threat.

• Data from such places with statewide bans as California and New York show that the restrictions do not cause the economic skies to fall on the heads of bar and restaurant owners.

"In fact, the opposite happened," said Corinne Ertz, grass-roots advocacy manager for the American Cancer Society, Midwest division. "Business increases, more jobs are created and the public is happier. Smokers come back. Smoking isn't the only thing that makes a pleasant experience in a bar or restaurant."

• More and more people who visit the growing number of cities with smoking bans discover that they really liked the experience and want it duplicated here.

"They come back and say, 'Gee, that was nice. So what happened to Minnesota?' " Weigum said.

• Many city officials support a smoking ban but are not willing to be the first to step forward for fear that their city would become a nonsmoking island. By breaking the ice, Thune and St. Paul released the pent-up demand.

• Remember how commie-hating Richard Nixon was able to use his long-known position to open the doors to Red China back in the early 1970s? Insiders said only a Dave Thune — a motorcycle-riding smoker who plays in a rock band — could get a smoking ban ordinance passed in St. Paul.

"How do you argue against Dave Thune, who spent half his life in a bar?" Weigum said. "He's my hero."

• The swiftness of Thune's campaign caught tobacco lobbyists and their associates flat-footed, giving them little time to organize strong opposition. In the past, when other cities tried to pass smoking bans, they held public hearings over a period of months. By the time the ordinances were finally introduced, they were quickly killed by the powerful opposition.

In January, the debate over public smoking is expected to erupt once again in Capitol hearing rooms. But the scenario likely will be different than the one that unfolded during the 2004 session, when a bill in the Democratic-Farmer-Laborcontrolled Senate reached the floor while a companion bill in the Republican-controlled House never received a hearing.

That won't happen in 2005, insiders say. DFLers, emboldened by the spate of local ordinances, once again will attempt to pass a statewide smoking ban. Meanwhile, House Republicans likely will be pressured by the tobacco lobby, the hospitality industry and the liquor industry to pass a bill that limits how far cities and counties can go with local ordinances.

The outcome, of course, will depend heavily on what happens during the November election, when voters select a new House of Representatives.

Farrell, from the licensed beverage group and a former legislator, says it's unlikely that the DFL will pick up enough House seats this November to gain control of the body. Consequently, the only way a statewide smoking ban could pass is if a House Republican would step forward to act as the bill's chief sponsor. That's not likely to happen, he added.

Farrell said the House may introduce a bill that limits community smoking bans, but the Senate will not pass it. As a result of the stalemate, nothing will change, he concluded.

As one longtime insider, who asked to remain anonymous because of his close involvement in the political struggles surrounding the issue, explained: "Unless there is a huge sea change in the Legislature, a statewide law will not happen. The tobacco lobby pretty much owns the Republican-controlled House."

1975

• Minnesota enacts the nation's first Clean Indoor Air Act, calling for separate smoking and nonsmoking sections in certain public buildings, including restaurants.

• Moose Lake becomes the first Minnesota community to prohibit smoking in restaurants.

• Duluth passes a smoking ordinance effective Jan. 1, 2001, that prohibits smoking in restaurants within certain hours of operation.

• Duluth citizens vote to strengthen the ordinance to eliminate restaurant exemptions.

• Olmsted County passes the state's first countywide ordinance prohibiting smoking in restaurants defined by ordinance.

• "Freedom to Breathe Act" — which would strengthen the Clean Indoor Air Act by prohibiting smoking in workplaces (including bars and restaurants) — is introduced in the state Legislature. The bill stalls in a House committee.

• The St. Paul City Council passes an ordinance in June to prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants, except for those having separately ventilated smoking rooms. Mayor Randy Kelly vetoes the ordinance in July. City Council members last week introduce two different smoking-ban ordinances — one covering both bars and restaurants and the other for restaurants only.

• Moorhead makes smoking illegal in public indoor workplaces effective Sept. 1.

• Bloomington passes the state's most comprehensive smoking ban, including all private clubs and all workplaces effective March 1, 2005.

• Minneapolis passes a smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants effective March 1, 2005.

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