Lawmakers pass smoking ban
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BY JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star
It’s been a long time coming for some state senators and Nebraska residents, but the Legislature on Friday gave its blessing to a statewide smoking ban.
The ban, nearly identical to Lincoln’s three-year-old ban, will go into effect June 1, 2009, if Gov. Dave Heineman signs it within five days.
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Compare smoking restrictions in Nebraska with those in other states. (Laura Meerkatz / JournalStar.com)...
Lincoln’s annual keno receipts dropped two years after the smoking ban passed Jan. 1, 2005. They rose again last year.
2003: $22.5 million
2004: $23.1 million
2005: $18.8 million
2006: $19.8 million
2007: $20.5 million
Source: Nebraska Department of Revenue
Heineman said he will review the bill and decide within that time period. The question, he said, is whether the public health issue overrides business concerns about government interfering in people’s lives.
Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney, who has worked on passing the bill for two years, said the stage was set by many before him, including former Sen. Nancy Thompson of Papillion.
The bill (LB395) last year had been amended to allow communities to opt out of the ban, but Johnson said he decided before the end of the session he could not live with the amendment. He said he told then-Sen. Mick Mines of Blair, who opposed an all-inclusive ban, about his change of heart and gave him time to react with a kill motion.
Earlier this month, Johnson was successful in taking the bill back to its original form. Many communities and businesses that contacted him said if the state was to have a ban, it should include all communities.
“They saw the folly of all of the opt-out provisions,” Johnson said.
In the end, 14 senators continued to oppose the ban, some of them staging a filibuster for about an hour and a half.
Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland said communities and businesses would have gradually become smoke-free on their own without the Legislature forcing them. The bill has a lot of problems, he said, including enforcement issues.
“Are we about freedom, or are we about bullying people to do what we want them to do?” he said.
Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard likened LB395 to a vision on the wall, like the Wizard of Oz, that looked great, but when the curtain was pulled back, there was Johnson with a different bill than had been agreed upon.
Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber said the ban would put people out of business, especially in rural Nebraska, where communities can’t afford to lose businesses.
One of those is Rj’s in DeWitt, near Karpisek’s hometown.
Guy Mentel, a co-owner of the bar and restaurant — one that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner — said the ban will hurt business.
“People will start staying at home where they can do what they want to do,” he said.
Smoking is just a way of life for some people, he said.
Lincoln’s ban has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2005. And while the ban seemed to hurt some bars in the beginning — because smokers could find places to go in other communities — Lincoln bars seemed to rebound.
The latest report on keno money earned in the state and its cities — one indicator of the effect of the Lincoln smoking ban — showed that revenue went up about $1 million in Lincoln in the fourth quarter last year, compared with the previous quarter and to the same quarter in 2006.
The $5.8 million in Lincoln keno proceeds last quarter was the highest since the first quarter of 2004 — a year before the ban — when proceeds were $6.2 million.
Bill Harvey, with Big Red Keno, said Lincoln has about $2.6 million to make up to get to pre-smoking ban annual totals.
Keno receipts had been growing every year until the ban, and in 2005 dropped from $23.1 million the previous year to $18.8 million. Keno proceeds began growing again in 2006 and 2007, and last year were up to $20.5 million.
“We’re gratified about the fact the Legislature passed a statewide smoking ban,” Harvey said. “I think it’s going to be helpful to our business because it puts everybody on a level playing field.”
Someday, he said, business will be back on the upward curve it was on before the smoking ban took effect.
GASP of Nebraska President Mark Welsch has waited 20 years for the state to enact a smoking ban.
“Can you see me jumping up and down? Can you see my big smile,” he said. “I’m so excited.”
During the past 20 years, the state took small steps toward this, with a 1999 ban on smoking in state buildings and vehicles, then a ban for commercial daycare centers and in-home centers when the children were there.
Lincoln’s ban influenced the process positively, Welsch said. And the Nebraska Restaurant Association’s support for the first time helped greatly. And people saw how unfair Omaha’s ban was, allowing some bars to allow smoking and not others, he said.
Seventy percent of Nebraska residents want a smoke-free state, Welsch said.
“Thank God we finally have it.”
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.
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Congratulations to all! "
now, if they can pass a law saying that you can't smoke directly outside the building. alot of times, you leave a restaurant, you walk outside you walk directly in smoke. be respectful!!
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Thank You Nebraska "
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I don't smoke, nor do I like it when people smoke around me---but all the nonsense about a "level playing field" and "support your local business" is just ignoring the real issue, which is that we now have a state government that has now told its constituents that they can't do something that is completely legal, just because the government says so.
What a great idea! Lets just start having the government make all of our decisions for us! "
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I do agree that the tobacco tax should go down if this gets passed as it takes away from you "smokers" that want to smoke in public places.
Let's hope this passes "
We have managed to ban a legal substance from being used in private establishments that no one is required to enter. This is indeed a glorious day!!!!
I only hope when the next legal activity that some or all of you enjoy is taken away you will meet it with such joy. I don't like to stand and marinate in smoky places either, but quess what? I don't have to go to those places. Its a little thing that is called 'free choice', maybe some of you have heard of it once.
I wonder though, if smoking is so bad we must ban its use from private property state wide, why don't we just ban its sale entirely from the state?? "
This is not a level playing field, Lincoln chose the ban and now can't live with it because the small cities outside of Lincoln have all their business, please don't stuff it down the throats of out of Lincoln business'. I saw fist hand what it did to California liquor establishments, you'll lose revenue and jobs in a way you never thought possible. Sen. Joel Johnson is not doing this state any favors and is only following a personal agenda. Don't let anyone fool you, this bill was drafted in the city of Lincoln for the city of Lincoln and Joel Johnson is just an unsuspecting pawn, say no, put it on the ballot and see what the people have to say about it. "
The govener should NOT sign this! "
I don't care about smoking outside- I smoke outside all of the time anyway. What I DO care about is our legislature making this decision FOR us. But what do you expect, Nebraska. Keep voting Republican (or worse, not vote at ALL), and you'll keep dealing with a government that'll make any decision it can for you. "
-> The average level of fine particle indoor air pollution was 96% lower in Lincoln, where all venues are smoke-free, compared to Omaha, where smoking is allowed.
-> Employees in Omaha establishments permitting indoor smoking are exposed to levels of air pollution 5.6 times higher than 24-hour fine particle standard established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Oh, and for the outdoor car exhaust is worse argument... Omaha's smoking establishments had an indoor air pollution level of 365, Lincoln's non-smoking establishments had a level of 17, and the average outdoor air pollution level was at 9. "
"A general term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods."
For some reason I didn't read that this law was a state take-over of the ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of tobacco products. It just dictates where they can be used.
Also, if this is striping you of your "Freedom", why is the ACLU not on your side?
"The ACLU does not oppose smoking bans in public buildings, in the workplace, or in other locations where non-smokers may be subjected to second-hand smoke." "
And one more thing: when this smoking ban helps people kick the smoking habit (and there will be some who will stop), who do you think is going to have to make up for the shortfall from the cigarette taxes? Yep, all you non-smokers who are, at this minute, doing your happy dance. "
Does this ban mean that you smokers are going to some how miraculously quit smoking? No way! We all know you smokers are going to continue to kill yourselves. Because of the ban, you don't think you should have to pay for your nasty habit anymore? LAUGHABLE! You don't want to pay taxes on tobacco... QUIT SMOKING! Duh. "
Thank You NE
Now just Sign it!!!! "
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Ban Fast Food; it's not healthy! For those of you who are going to the bars to celebrate, enjoy it, the interest groups are after alcohol too. Not healthy.
Banning a legal substance from being used in a private business is the power of groupthink over individual rights. For all the talk about it's harm I've yet to see a scientific study that's proved second hand smoke has caused cancer. Rejoice in your loss of choice. Celebrate your lost freedom. What's next Senator Johnson? "
That way we would have no arguement over the right of people to smoke in bars or be forced to go outside. "
Now, my family will enjoy and spend money in businesses that I would never go to before, including clothing stores where employees smoke and stink up the products. We will spend more on entertainment as well.
Interesting, the smokers who are anti smoking bans think they are the ONLY ones who spend or don't spend money? Think again, and wake up!
Oh, and for those who think we can't have your tax money off of your cigs if you can't smoke in public businesses....so you are saying you are going to quit smoking and won't be buying the cigs any longer??? Congragulations on a healthy decision for you and your loved ones!
Way to go Nebraska! "
You fish eating people look out. You're next. Mercury in fish. Why should I pay for you eating thermometers and the resulting health risk?
Am I serious? Gee, it sure sounds crazy, doesn't it? Or maybe a different take on the smoking issue...after all one man's meat is another man's Marlboro..... "
"For all the talk about it's harm I've yet to see a scientific study that's proved second hand smoke has caused cancer."--you really need to do research before you write something like that. "
It is as simple as that. Most of us don’t care about the dangers of second hand smoke. We just don’t want cigarette smoke in our face and to stink like other peoples smoke.
It is very sad that Senator Karpisek thinks so lowly of the people of Dewitt. He seems to think that if they can’t smoke they will sit in their house and discontinue the support of local businesses.
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Things took a bad turn back in the late 80's or early 90's when the people (state of Nebraska citizens) voted down a seat belt requirement. The legislature, in their all-knowing autocracy, overturned that opinion of the common people of the state. One could only hope, and it's not a bad idea, that the entire state would stop smoking so that the new legislature will deal with the tax shortfall that Nebraska would face. If only we could also stop driving vehicles, and eradicate Nebraska's nation leading tax in that department also. Then take out Omaha's 14-percent hotel tax, also one of the most miserable in the nation.
Nebraska's legislature is so overpaid for what they accomplish, it's a shame we have no representation of the people. It's a small minority shaping the state in their own disfigured image of morality instead of common sense.
Let the people speak, not the vocal minority that have the ear of their buddies in Lincoln... "
Of course they only argue about the smoking ban. I don't hear them arguing about:
1)The right to have a dirty kitchen
2)The right to serve spoiled food
3)The right to serve alcohol to minors
4)The right to discharge firearms in their establishment
5)The right to use illegal drugs in their bar
6)The right to use underage minors as employees
7)The right to serve alcohol past a certain time
8)The right to have no capacity on the number of people allowed in their business
9)The right to break the fire code
10)The right not to pay taxes on their income
Well thats just 10 so called rights I could go on. The rights of the so called business owner have been taken away for years and for the most part I am glad the 10 "rights" I listed were taken away. "
Wake up you idiots and think for yourself! "
This isn't about "rights" or "freedoms". It is about the perception of one group of people imposing their will on another, and the second one is powerless to stop them. Remember the Kansas/Nebraska football game last fall? Its like that.
Smoking IS awful. Most smokers I know are considerate of the fact that non smokers don't like it and act accordingly and in respect of those feelings. If you think about it objectively, you'll say the same thing, I'll bet.
These health arguments. They're valid. No question. In their secret heart of hearts, smokers will probably admit that.
But nobody likes to be "banned". And for years and years the market has driven where people go to eat and drink. Just as smokers could say "I'm not going there because I can't smoke", non smokers could say "I'm not going there because they allow smoking". And the owners of these places would rather listen to the cash register than a lot of the empty suits of the Legislature.
That's all.
Except for one thing:
I don't know if I'm speaking for anyone other than me, but the image of GASP President Welsch as he gave the quote: “Can you see me jumping up and down? Can you see my big smile,” he said. “I’m so excited.” is a deeply troubling one.
You better put a limit on how often you do that President Welsch. People are going to start to wonder how steady the hand is on the GASP tiller.
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I think this is a crock of @@@@!.
90% of the people I know that live in Nebraska smoke, I believe these number are fulsified.
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Wake up America....we are being sold out by politicians and we have ALLOWED them to become far too powerful with out We The Peoples say.
WAKE UP!!! "
This is dangerous grounds....and it will NOT be the last right taken from WE THE PEOPLE. Wise up folks....We are what our founding fathers hated!!!!! "
This didn't stop smokers, this just changed their pattern, now they are just holed up in their homes and apartments poisoning the air there. How about some legislation directed at private home-owners and apartment dwellers that smoke? Maybe require a smoker escrow account to be used for remodeling when they move/die of cancer.
Way to do a half-baked job Unicameral/Governor Heineman. Your job is done here for now and now it's time to go after the beef-eating crowd...or maybe those providing the booze that leads to the killing/maiming of innocent people on Nebraska's highways. I guarantee you...neither the Unicameral nor the Governor have the guts to go up against the beer/spirits industry. "
Thanks Lincoln my sinus's have never felt better. "
In the early sixties my high school history teacher said that the US was becoming more socialistic everyday and USSR was becoming more capitolistic every day. Those ships are about to pass each other if they have not already done so! "
Maybe someday society will ralize this practice is socially unacceptable, and I won't have to foot the bill for the medical problems associated with tobacco. "
Is there some happy middle ground here? If it is a seperate room, with its own ventilation system, the non-smokers are not getting 2nd hand smoke, the businesses are still getting thier profits. I've seen several places close in Lincoln since the ban, that have lost much of their business due to the loss of smokers.
The businesses should have the right to opt making a seperate room, or having a ban. NOT the government.
As a non-smoker choose not to go where there are a lot of smokers. As a smoker choose not to go to a non-smoking establishment unless you want to smoke outside. Happy middle ground for all involved. This is rocket science...just common sense. "
A million thanks to Sen. Joel Johnson and all the senators who supported this health legislation. "
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To quote Ben Franklin, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither, and loose both"! Fear not, Big Brother who knows what is best for all of us is awake tonight to lovingly care for you.
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