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Excerpts from House OKs smoking ban 100-40; further votes ahead

By GLENN ADAMS, Associated Press [03/24/99]

After receiving a larger-than-expected margin of approval in the Maine House, a bill to ban smoking in restaurants was sent to the Senate, where its fate was less certain.

"The tobacco industry is working hard to defeat this bill, so we're not taking anything for granted," Maine Health Director Dora Mills said after representatives approved the bill by a 100-40 vote Tuesday.

The House later snuffed out a series of amendments aimed at weakening the bill before sending it to the Senate.

The proposal is the latest in a series of smoking bans that started with jury rooms in 1984 and spread to hospitals, buses, ferry interiors, public meetings and buildings open to the public.

The ban developed by the Department of Human Services and backed by Gov. Angus King would ban smoking outright in restaurants, which now provide separate smoking and non-smoking areas, but exempt lounges and taverns where children are not allowed.

Those supporting the ban framed it as health issue affecting 44,000 restaurant employees, and said restaurants are the last workplaces in Maine where smoking is still permitted.

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