Update (June 22, 2004) : The Massachusetts
law was signed by Gov. Romney and will take effect July 5, 2004.
MA Smokefree Workplace Law Goes for Final Vote
Governor Romney says he'll sign it. Implementation expected July 5
JoeCherner-Announce,
Mon, 26 Apr 2004.
Late last year, the Massachusetts House of Representatives
voted 125-10 in favor of smokefree workplace legislation for all MA
workers (including bar and restaurant workers). The Massachusetts
Senate voted 29-10 in favor of similar legislation. Each proposal
required implementation by July 5, 2004.
The two bills moved to a House/Senate conference committee to resolve
minor differences. After a long delay, all issues have now been
resolved. The slightly revised legislation goes back to the House
and Senate where it is expected to pass this week. Then it goes
to the Governor for his signature or veto. Governor Romney has said
he will sign the bill into law noting that "people have a right
to breathe clean air and be free of secondhand smoke."
One hundred Massachusetts localities, including Boston, have already
enacted and implemented smokefree workplace legislation. The law
will provide similar protection for the rest of MA residents.
Massachusetts will be the sixth state to adopt smokefree workplace
legislation for ALL workers (including office, restaurant, bar,
bingo, bowling, nightclub, and casino workers), joining California,
Delaware, New York, Connecticut, and Maine.
Rhode Island is expect to become the seventh smokefree workplace
state shortly.
Florida, Vermont, Utah, and Idaho have passed smokefree workplace
laws for restaurant workers but not bar workers.
Top of Page
Rhode Island House Votes 61-0 for Clean Indoor
Air
Senate likely to vote soon making Rhode Island 7th smokefree workplace
state
Parts excerpted from The Day, 6/21/04
On Thursday, the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 61-0
in favor of legislation that would clear the air in virtually every
public place and workplace, including bars, restaurants, malls, health-care
facilities, schools, and public transportation waiting areas. The
Rhode Island Senate must still approve the measure, which is in its
Committee on Health and Human Services.
If passed, the law would mostly take effect March 1, 2005. Bars
and nonprofit organizations, such as Knights of Columbus or Veterans
of Foreign Wars, would have an extra year to comply.
Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri said he favored smokefree workplace
legislation and is expected to sign such a bill when it reaches
his desk.
Six states-- California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine,
and Massachusetts-- have passed smokefree workplace legislation
for all workers (including office, restaurant, bar, bingo, bowling,
nightclub, and casino workers).
Georgia to Introduce Statewide
Smokefree Workplace Bill
Bid to join CA, DE, NY, CT, ME, and MA as smokefree workplace state
Parts excerpted from The Associated Press - MARIETTA,
Ga., 1/13/04
Georgia state senator Don Thomas will introduce legislation within
the next two weeks that would provide all Georgia workers with a
smokefree workplace, including bar and restaurant workers.
If successful, Georgia would join California, Delaware, New York,
Connecticut, Maine, and Massachussets as a smokefree workplace state.
Hundreds of cities have also passed smokefree workplace legislation.
"This is not an effort to make people quit smoking,"
Thomas, a family doctor, told the Marietta Daily Journal. "It's
to make it so their smoke doesn't hurt others."
Andy Lord, director of Georgia Tobacco Initiatives for the American
Cancer Society, said that several Georgia jurisdictions have already
passed smokefree workplace laws, including Valdosta, Bainbridge,
Statesboro, Gwinnett County and DeKalb County.
We have tremendous momentum, and we want there to be a statewide
law so we dont have to continue fighting these little battles, Lord
said.
Top of Page
Maryland Bids To Become 7th Smokefree Workplace State
Annapolis, 12/16/03... At a news conference in Annapolis (MD) today,
two legislators joined with health groups and bar and restaurant
workers to announce their intention to introduce smokefree workplace
legislation.
"It needs to happen now. It needs to happen today," said
Delegate Barbara Frush, who will be introducing legislation in Maryland's
House of Delegates.
"People are speaking out and saying, 'We want a clean work
environment,'" added Senator Ida Ruben, who will be introducing
legislation in Maryland's State Senate.
"I work in a bar and restaurant," said Jen Valente, head
of Maryland BREATHE (Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together
for a Healthy Environment). "Our right to breathe clean air
is just as important as others. Bar and restaurant employees are
NOT second rate citizens and should not be treated as such."
She urged legislators to "protect all workers, including bar
and restaurant employees, people like me, from the poisons of tobacco
smoke."
The fate of Maryland's smokefree workplace proposal is expected
to rest largely with Senate President Mike Miller, who has opposed
smokefree workplace legislation in the past but did not indicate
his position today.
"People live and learn," says Joe Cherner, president
of SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc., the nation's largest smokefree
advocacy group. "Perhaps Senator Miller has learned something
that he didn't know before. We've seen many legislators come onboard
in recent years when they learn about diseases caused by tobacco
smoke."
If Maryland passes smokefree workplace legislation, it will become
the nation's 7th smokefree workplace state joining California, Delaware,
New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts. Other states, such
as Florida, Vermont, and Utah, have passed partial smokefree workplace
laws, addressing restaurants but not bars.
Earlier this year, Montgomery County (Maryland's wealthiest county),
passed comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation. Talbot County
(MD) is expected to join them shortly.
Top of Page
Smokefree Nations: Smokefree
workplace laws are debated and passed at the national level in the
U.K., Ireland and Sweden.
Additional information about smokefree activities:
www.smokefree.net/alerts.php.
|