Smoking Ban May Face Uphill Battle in Texas Senate
House lawmakers successfully tacked a statewide smoking ban onto a broad Senate fiscal matters bill last weekend. But whether it will stick in the upper chamber is another question entirely.
"All eyes are on the Senate right now," said Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton and the House sponsor of a standalone smoking ban bill that never made it up for a vote in the lower chamber. "...This is an easy thing to happen, and it will rest with the Senate if it does not."
The measure, which would ban smoking in restaurants, bars and most public facilities in the state starting ...
Comments (10)
Abel Magwitch
Someone needs to tell Carrie Nation that she is in the wrong political party.
Laurie Ward
There is a way to satisfy smokers and non smokers. Smokers can smoke an Electronic Cigarette. This way smokers can enjoy inhaling and blowing smoke and non smokers will not get any second hand smoke. The smoke is just a harmless water vapor. Electronic cigarettes do not contain any tobacco, tar, carcinogens or other harmful additives. No more second hand smoke, dirty ashtrarys, nasty cigarette butts and awful tobacco smell. You can get the cartridges with or without nicotine, Marlboro or Menthol. If you go to http://www.Sherlocksden.com you can find Electronic Cigarette kits starting at $20.00.
Chris BIllingsley
BAN ALL TOXIC TOBACCO SMOKE EVERYWHERE! This witches brew of carcinogens and poisons KILLS more than 5,000 INNOCENT people in Texas every year!
So-called electronic cigarettes JUST AS DANGEROUS! Should be outlawed, just like the ALREADY ILLEGAL tobacco drug.
Prime directive of government: protect the health, safety and welfare of all of the people. If you don't want to ban all smoking, GET OUT OF GOVERNMENT NOW!
Chris BIllingsley
But Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, and another of the Senate's conferees, said that even though he's a physician, he has a constitutional and personal property problem with the measure. "I took an oath to uphold the Constitution" — an oath, he said, that even overrides his Hippocratic Oath.
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Then, he should LOSE HIS MEDICAL LICENSE for failing to protect his patients and the people of Texas from toxic tobacco smoke!
Maricela Gonzalez Rios via Texas Tribune on Facebook
A smoking ban? What about an Alcohol ban?
Joe Blow
I hope Myra Crownover is voted out of office for this nonsense. She knows she can't get this passed as a stand alone bill so she uses Obamacare style tactics to get here agenda passed. There is not one place in Texas someone has to frequent where they are forced to put up with cigarette smoke. I know of several bars that have voluntarily gone no smoking, so why do we need a government mandate?
Bob Johnson
These ban fanatics will use every sneaky move they can to get their ban. They need to closely watched.
Erin Anderson
The only thing worse than big-government nanny-state liberals are big-government nanny-state Republicans who ought to know better! Either you have personal liberty combined with personal responsibility, or you don't. Either you have private property rights or you don't. In the case of bars and restaurants, if you don't like the smoke, don't go (BTW, alcohol and unhealthy restaurant food can kill you too)! Consumer demand will lead businesses to offer non-smoking options.
If you think cigarettes are "evil", make the case to outlaw them completely - along with liquor, fast food, cars, pointy objects, and all other dangerous things that kill people. Otherwise, stop trying to incrementally encroach on people's liberties in the name of doing good. If you give government the power to ban things you don't like, they can use that same power to ban things you DO like.
Trey Boring
In Texas we have a long history of supporting local control of our cities and other jurisdictions. Such as Schools. With a state wide smoking ban Austin is telling all of us that the state not your local government is in control. That is COUNTER to what Texas has stood for since its inception.
All cities in Texas that want a smoking ban have one. Several have modified their ban to meet the desires of their community. Some cities have debated the issue and decided that they do NOT want one. Why should the state override the will of the local citizens in their own town? We are all walking a path here that has led to devistation in other states.
This is a local issue and if you want a smoking ban work with your local cities and get one. Austin has no business demanding that a city comply with its wishes, when the local community has already spoken on the issue.
The next thing we know the "republican" Crownover will be seeking to have the state take over local shool districts or local taxes. Mandates from Austin are a slippery slope, and should be thwarted by the Senate. And those of us who vote should oust the House lawmakers that feel this is an acceptable back door way of inacting the will of the state on local communities.
Joe Blow
God bless Senator Deuell and the other senators for snuffing this ban out. No one is debating the negative effects of smoking, but our property rights should be protected. This ban goes against free market principles and is not what Texas stands for. I appreciate the senators standing up for the right thing and not giving into the pressure.