Updated: Senate Committee Votes Out Smoking Ban
Senate lawmakers pushed a ban on smoking in public places out of committee this afternoon, sending it to the full upper chamber for a vote.
Senate Bill 28, which would ban smoking indoors in bars, restaurants and many public places, has failed to make it through past legislative sessions despite public support. It was voted out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee with a 5-4 vote.
State Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, and Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, both filed smoking ban bills during the regular session, only to see them defeated. In May, House lawmakers led by Crownover attached ...
Comments (10)
Mary Hawkins Mayer-Oakes via Texas Tribune on Facebook
At first, I thought was a picture of a sonogram.
Mary Lynn VanZandt Neill via Texas Tribune on Facebook
So sonograms are OK(we don't know the long term effects),yet smoking is up in smoke??BOO.
Rudy Gonzales
These Yahoos in Austin lead by their "Liberal" Governor, are making a mockery of the legislative session. The second legislative session, which should never have happened. These Yahoos are liberal with
Texans money for the second session. Smoking was not supposed to be on the session, but school budgets were. Do not do anything except the budget and shut things down and quit spending our money! HEY! PERRY! CAN YOU HEAR US! Stop the BS!
Daren Loney
O for the love of god, can this legislation die already? Trying to pass this as a budget saving measure is ridiculous and surely the 31 million (a high estimate more likely than not) pales in comparison to the income that would be lost via taxes if smoking was banned. More than that, banning smoking on private property is ridiculous. Let the business/owners decided how they want to operate their own establishment. If you don't like smoking in the restaurant(ect), go elsewhere.
Texascattleco
Where are the small government Republicans on this. Many bars have moved outside of city limits to avoid smoking bans. Let this session be over as soon as possible.
Bruce Sadowsky
The tobacco drug is ALREADY illegal! Yes, it is still ILLEGAL to POISON people, no matter how slowly you do it.
More importantly, toxic tobacco smoke KILLS more than 5,000 INNOCENT people in Texas every year. This is GENOCIDE and must be stopped!
Tobacco and toxic tobacco smoke are? terrorism. Ban ALL smoking everywhere, indoors and? out.
Sgt. Carter
EVeryone has a long-standing RIGHT to smokefree air, without the more than 7,000 chemicals (many of them poisonous and/or carcinogenic) in killer tobacco smoke.
Smoking must be prohibited everywhere: inside, outside, anywhere people could be exposed to this killer.
I agree that tobacco, itself, should be banned, but, first, let's ban smoking in all places. Thank you, Rep. Crownover, Sen. Ellis and everyone else who is fighting for our RIGHT to smokefree air!
Mary J
I'm not a non-smoker, but I think those non-smokers are getting a rough deal, what with so many of them being sickened and killed off because a few tobacco addicts didn't care about endangering innocent people. By the way, 88% of Americans don't smoke.
And you pathetic LIARS that run that stupid pool hall, if you had really lost business simply because smoking was finally banned (like it always should have been), then you ALREADY had a problem. Banning smoking has always been good for people and for businesses, except the tobacco people's "business", which is wrong to begin with.
C'mon, Texas and all other states, prohibit smoking everywhere.
Kristen Lynn
My mother is now dying from emphysema caused by working for ten years in a Amarillo restaurant which stupidly allowed smoking. She'd be the first to tell you that smoking should be prohibited in every public place and workplace, without exemptions or exceptions. Banning smoking in Texas will save a lot of lives and a lot of money. Anyone politician that is still fighting against banning smoking should resign. Thanks to all of you lawmakers in Texas that are trying to do the right thing and protect all of us from tobacco smoke!
mike adams
I think Bruce Sadowsky is the type who gets either high & or drunk, because from his comment, that is what one would think!