Bill would expand ban on smoking.

Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard

SALEM - There was a time when state leaders thought it was good enough to let smokers have a few last refuges - such as bars, taverns and bowling alleys - where they still could puff away.

But a bill rolled out Monday proposing a total smoking ban in such venues makes it clear that those are no longer the prevailing sentiments in the Legislature.

The proposal, Senate Bill 571, would expand the statewide smoking ban to include bars, taverns, bowling alleys and bingo halls among the public spaces and workplaces where smoking is not permitted.

The bill will get its inaugural hearing Friday in Eugene.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said it was no coincidence that she chose to open hearings on the bill there, since Eugene was one of three localities in which a total ban, including in bars and taverns, was enacted before the state pre-empted such restrictions elsewhere in Oregon.

"I wanted to have it in one of the smoke-free communities because I wanted to hear from people living with this," she said. "They're best qualified to speak to the actual effects."

The proposal comes six years after then-Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat, and the Repub- lican-controlled Legislature worked out a compromise with health advocates and the restaurant, bar and tavern lobby.

The deal then was that the state would pass a uniform workplace and smoking ban that would include restaurants - but also include seven exemptions: bars and taverns, bingo halls, bowling centers, hotel or motel rooms designated for smokers, establishments barred to minors, tobacco shops and, under certain conditions, employee lounges.

Bill Perry, lobbyist for the Oregon Restaurant Association, said the 2001 law struck a fair balance that recognized the need to protect children from secondhand smoke while acknowledging the rights of adults who choose to use tobacco products.

"I understand the other side doesn't like smoking, but the way the law is written today, it's a compromise," Perry said. "It lets adults make adult decisions."

But many of the lawmakers around back then as minority Democrats are now in charge of the Legislature. And they're ready to end that compromise.

"This was a deal with the devil, in my opinion," Burdick said of the 2001 legislation.

Rep. Diane Rosenbaum, a Portland Democrat and a sponsor of both SB 571 and a similar House measure, said the state had fallen behind many others in the drive to end smoking in public places and places where people work. Sixteen states have extended smoking bans to bars and taverns, including Oregon's neighbors, California and Washington.

In addition, the neighboring states of Idaho and Nevada have stronger protections against secondhand smoke than does Oregon, according to the American Lung Association.

Backers of the bill said the dangers of secondhand smoke were too grave to allow even a small fraction of Oregon employers to force their workers to toil in the midst of smoke that can cause heart disease, emphysema, cancer and other ail- ments.

Dana Kaye of the American Lung Association of Oregon noted that each year in Oregon, 8,000 deaths result from diseases caused by secondhand smoke.

"This is perhaps the most pressing public health issue facing our state today," she said.

Perry said Oregonians can choose to work in a smoke-free environment, noting that on average, the typical server in the restaurant and tavern industry moves on after eight months on the job.

"If you don't like that job, there are openings every day at smoke-free bars and restaurants," Perry said.

SMOKING BAN HEARING

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on smoking-related bills Friday.

Where: The University of Oregon Law School, Room 175, Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St.

When: 9:30 a.m.

What: The public can testify and listen to discussions of three bills restricting smoking in workplaces, including bars and taverns.