Excerpts2008

2008 NEWS Excerpts -- Virginia Clean Indoor Air

This page updated May 2, 2008

PLEASE NOTE -- Although most of these Excerpts date from January through early March and appeared during the legislative session in 2008,
More Letters to the Editor, Editorials, and other news items continue to appear
discussing the events of the session, as well as reports on the
Norfolk City Council's strange behavior regarding health.

Here is a LIST of 2008 EXCERPTS from the news on
2008 Virginia legislation and the eight people who blocked it, followed by the Excerpts themselves.

Please see a separate web page for excerpts from the media on Norfolk, VA City Council and its wishy washy approach to health.

Here's a link to a summary of the current Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, and a review of the 2008 legislative efforts. Eight Delegates killed all 12 no-smoking bills introduced.

Speaker of the House -- William Howell -- who assigned the no-smoking bills not to a health committee, but to the General Laws Committee --
led by his choice as Chairwoman, Terrie Suit, who sent the bills to a subcommittee that had killed the bills for two years running, and she sat in on the meetings on the no-smoking bills.
The Subcommittee members: Thomas Gear, David Albo, Thomas Wright, John Cosgrove, Watkins Abbitt, Danny Bowling;
No doubt Morgan Griffith, House Majority Leader helped in all of this. It was his bill that Governor Kaine amended in 2007 from a tobacco bill to a health bill.

Quick Background:

The Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act passed in 1990.

In late 2007, Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine announced he would propose legislation to ban smoking in all restaurants. Senators Mamie Lock and Ralph Northam carried his bill, SB 501. Four no-smoking bills, including a comprehensive one, passed the full Senate, but were killed by the same six dictators who killed eight House bills -- Thomas Gear, David Albo, Thomas Wright, John Cosgrove, Watkins Abbitt, Danny Bowling, encouraged in this by Terrie Suit, chairman of the General Laws Committee who sat in on both subcommittee meetings.

Note: In the 2007 Jan.-Feb. legislative session, Delegate Morgan Griffith carried the Philip Morris supported bill to eliminate the state requirement that restaurants of 50 seats or more which are not smoke-free must at least have a no-smoking section. Griffith's bill passed both houses in 2007, but was amended by Kaine to make all restaurants totally no-smoking, but the House defeated the amendment, and Kaine vetoed the original bill.

2008: from The Richmond Times-Dispatch January 25, 2008:

"We think it is going to pass the Senate easily, which just adds to the outrage of what is happening in the House," said Hilton Oliver, executive director of Virginia GASP, or Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public.

"The issue of smoking in restaurants has nothing to do with ABC and gaming, but it has a whole lot to do with health," Oliver said. "They are playing games there [in the House], no question about it."

List of the EXCERPTS from 2008 news coverage, followed by the excerpts themselves,
and a list of the Letters to the Editor on this subject.

On the state legislation:

The first three articles deal with the role of Terri Suit in blocking the no-smoking bills, and are placed first even though out of order by current date. Letters to the Editor are grouped together.
The rest are placed in descending order by date.

Editorial, The Virginian-Pilot, February 9: "Suit plays politics with smoking ban"
Editorial, The Virginian-Pilot, January 22: "Suit's retreat on smoking clouds chances of ban"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 25: "Several types of smoking-ban bills in play"

TriCities.Com, Editorial, March 12: "Virginia House needs to mothball the bill-killing machine"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 27: "Virginia Beach Council stands by smoking-ban bills"
TriCities.Com, February 26: "Air quality in the non-smoking sections of restaurants"
Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, Sunday, February 24: "One last shot to clear the smoky air in Virginia restaurants"
Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, February 23: "Marching orders from House GOP on smoking ban?"
Editorial, The Virginian-Pilot, February 20: "Last gasp on smoking ban"
Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, February 17: "Doing the Bidding of Big Tobacco"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 20: "Ad aims to revive bill on smoking ban"
TriCities.com, News Channel 11, February 22: "Air Quality in the Non-Smoking Sections of Restaurants"
The Daily Press (AP article), February 14 online, The Potomac News, February 15: "House panel rejects last batch of Va. anti-smoking bills"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 15: "Bills to ban public smoking defeated"
The Washington Post, February 15: "Hopes for Public Smoking Ban Are Snuffed Out"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 14 online: "Last of this year's anti-smoking bills killed by legislators"

Letters to the Editor:

Please See also those listed under Norfolk City Council items
The Virginia Beach Beacon, April, 2008
The Virginian-Pilot, March 23: "Nicotine fit"
The Virginian-Pilot, March 20: "Suit's smoking legacy"
The Virginian-Pilot, March 9: "A hazard to women"
The Roanoke Times, February 25: "House subcommittee killed more than bills"
The Roanoke Times, February 24: "Smokers impose hazards on others"
The Roanoke Times, February 23: "Does tobacco lobby control the legislature?"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 23: "Smoking decision isn't up to owners"
The Roanoke Times, February 22: "Smoking ban works in Vermont"
The Bristol Herald Courier, February 21: "Tell delegates to give ban a vote"
The Daily Press, February 21: "Kids and smoke"
The Roanoke Times, February 20: "Smokers shouldn't foul the air of others"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 20: "Government should set restaurant policies"
The Daily Press, February 19: "The Pro-Cancer Vote"
The Daily Press, February 19: "Help nonsmokers"
The Daily Press, February 18: "Government has role in our safety"
The Bristol Herald Courier, February 16: "Virginia needs a smoking ban"
The Roanoke Times, February 16: "Nicotine is an addictive poison, it's not a choice"
The Daily Press, February 14: "Smokers don't deserve rights"
The Daily Press, February 13: "Reveal the votes on smoking bills"
The Daily Press, February 13: "Anti-smoking vote"
The Virginian Pilot, February 13: "Not smelly"
The Virginian Pilot, February 13: "Disappointed"
The Daily Press, February 10: "Tobacco lobby"
The Bristol Herald Courier, February 10: "Ban restaurant smoking"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 11: "Dunk doughnuts"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 11: "Contact Del. Suit"

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 14 early morning online: "Anti-smoking bills could die today"
Column, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 11: "Fuming on stalled bans on smoking"
The Bristol Herald Courier, February 9: "Smoking bans, shot down"
The Roanoke Times, February 8: "Eight bills that ban public smoking die in House"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 8: "Lawmakers douse all bills that ban smoking in public"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 8: "House snuffs restaurant smoking ban"
The Daily Press, February 7, late afternoon online: "House panel kills anti-smoking proposals"
The Richmond Times Dispatch, February 7 late afternoon online: "Anti-smoking bills killed"
The Virginian-Pilot; Roanoke Times (AP article), February 7 late afternoon online: "Virginia House subcommittee rejects restaurant smoking ban"
The Daily Press (AP article), February 5, online mid-day (also 2/6): "Virginia Senate OKs broad public smoking ban"
The Roanoke Times, February 6: "Smoking bills win approval"
The Roanoke Times, February 5: "Smoking bills clear state Senate"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 6: "Anti-smoking bills pass in Senate"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 5: "Smoking bans pass Virginia Senate"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 6: "Senate passes smoking bans"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 5: "Senate passes curbs on smoking"
Editorial, The Roanoke Times, February 3: "Smoking ban is a workplace safety issue"
The Roanoke Times, January 31, online mid-day: "Senate committee passes series of smoking ban bills"
The Roanoke Times, February 1: "Panel passes bills banning smoking in public"
The Daily Press (AP article), January 31, online mid-day: "Senate committee votes to ban smoking in most public buildings"
The Daily Press, February 1: "Senate ban could go up in smoke"
The Virginian-Pilot, January 31, online mid-day: "Statewide public smoking ban passes out of Senate committee"
The Virginian-Pilot, February 1: "Restaurant smoking ban comes a step closer to law"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, online, January 31: "Bills to crack down on smoking advance"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 1: "Smoking ban bills advance in VA Senate"
The Washington Post, January 31: "Man with heart condition wants smoke-free eateries ..."
The Washington Times, January 28: "Virginia smoking suit cites ADA"
The Roanoke Times, January 29: "[Senate] Subcommittee OKs indoor smoking ban, most restrictive of 3"
Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, January 31: "A firm stand on public smoking"
The Daily Press (AP article), January 27: "Smoking in restaurants comes under fire in state built on tobacco"
The Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 22: "Proposal on public smoking debated; About 80 attend hearing on Senate legislation to create tougher controls"
Editorial, The Washington Post, January 10: "Smoke in Their Eyes -- On Smoking, It's Virginia vs. the World"
Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, January 10: "Show courage; pass smoking ban"
The Bristol Herald Courier, January 10: "Local Virginia restaurant operators have mixed view on revived smoking ban efforts"
The Daily Press (AP article), January 8: "Kaine proposes statewide restaurant smoking ban"
The News Virginian, January 8: "Governor proposes ban on smoking"
The Roanoke Times, January 8, 2008: "Kaine revives ban on smoking"
The Danville Register & Bee, January 8: "Will ban proposal go up in smoke?"

EXCERPTS from The Virginian-Pilot, February 9, 2008, Editorial headlined, "Suit plays politics with smoking ban", writer not given.

State senators' decisive 28-10 vote Tuesday for a ban on smoking in Virginia restaurants was a reflection of their constituents' legitimate concerns about the health hazards of second-hand smoking.

A vote by six delegates on Thursday evening to suppress all legislation calling for new smoking restrictions is a reflection of how democracy is pushed aside in Richmond whenever public opinion clashes with the tobacco industry.

The story doesn't have to end here, but it will unless Virginia Beach Del. Terrie Suit steps forward to make sure this important public health issue gets the hearing it deserves.

The Virginia Beach Republican remains adamant that she will not use her power as the new chairwoman of the House General Laws Committee to secure a vote by all 22 members of that panel. That means the ban has no hope of ever getting to the 100-member House, where it stands a better chance of passage.

Suit is not just obstructing the desires of nameless millions across the state. She is blocking legislation that her own constituents strongly support.

Polls show ... broad backing for restaurant smoking bans in Hampton Roads, as many as 7 of every 10 citizens. All but one of the local governments in the region, including Virginia Beach, endorsed the proposal. A majority of owners in the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association have worked relentlessly for the ban.

Dels. John Cosgrove of Chesapeake and Tom Gear of Hampton were among the six delegates who voted to table the measures this week. At least they have never changed sides, like Suit.

As chairman, Suit is the only person who can revive those bills. A majority vote in the full committee could accomplish that task, but that is unlikely. She supported Gov. Tim Kaine's effort last year to pass a smoking ban for restaurants.

Her abrupt about-face followed her elevation to a chairmanship by party leaders adamantly opposed to the smoking ban. That's probably not a coincidence. Suit says she changed her mind because she believes enough restaurants have voluntarily gone smoke-free.

She's entitled to change her mind, but the wishes of her constituents deserve more consideration than she is giving them. The smoking issue ought to be settled on the floor of the House, not in a tiny subcommittee.

EXCERPTS FROM The Virginian-Pilot, January 22, 2008, Editorial Page, headlined, "Suit's retreat on smoking clouds chances of ban", writer not given.

Advocates of a ban on smoking in all Virginia restaurants were delighted to see a new and seemingly friendly face this year at the helm of a legislative committee that knocked the wind out of their public health campaign last year.

Del. Terrie Suit broke with most members of her party in April 2007 when the Virginia Beach Republican supported a statewide ban proposed by Gov. Tim Kaine.

The measure failed, but this year Suit has the opportunity to play a crucial role in the debate as the new chairwoman of the House General Laws Committee.

Unfortunately, the rise to power has clouded Suit's judgment. Now she opposes the smoking ban she backed last year, a position that puts her at odds with her constituents, the municipal leaders in the cities she represents and even the restaurant associations.

Suit says she now believes enough restaurants have gone smoke-free that government regulation is no longer necessary.

That's nonsense, and none other than the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association says so. Local business owners insist the only way to protect the health of their customers and their employees is to have a consistent policy for all eating establishments. ...

Last year's proposed smoking ban jogged through the state Senate only to be snuffed out by a six-member subcommittee of General Laws. The chairman at the time refused to order a hearing by the full committee.

Suit has sent four smoking ban measures to the same subcommittee, which includes Del. John Cosgrove of Chesapeake and is led by Del. Tom Gear of Hampton, both strong opponents of a ban.

Suit says she won't try to revive the measure if it dies in the subcommittee again, a near certainty.

She's in a ticklish spot, caught between what's politically popular at home and what's politically necessary in Richmond. Suit is beholden to Speaker Bill Howell, an opponent of the statewide ban, for her new leadership post, and it will be tough to defy him. She insists he has applied no pressure on her to change her position.

Suit's greatest obligation is to her constituents, who want a smoking ban. At a minimum, she should use her post so the ban gets aired before the full committee and the votes are recorded.

Suit is in a position to make that happen. She should take this opportunity to use her gavel for a good cause.

EXCERPTS FROM The Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 25, 2008, with sidebars on types of laws and business impact, main article headlined, "Several types of smoking-ban bills in play", writer John Reid Blackwell.

Legislators are considering bills that would allow Virginia to join other states that have passed smoke-free workplace or restaurant laws, but the chances for approval seem dim again.

The state Senate has passed indoor-smoking bans for two straight sessions, ... the legislation faces a dead end in the House of Delegates, where a six-member subcommittee has killed indoor-smoking bills.

A proposal by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to ban smoking in restaurants made it to a full vote on the House floor last year but failed, 59-40, after opponents argued Kaine's proposal was too broad.

Anti-smoking bills in the House could face a familiar scenario -- Speaker William J. Howell has referred them to the General Laws Committee.

That panel is chaired by Del. Terrie L. Suit, R-Virginia Beach, who voted in favor of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's proposed restaurant smoking ban last year.

This year, however, Suit has referred indoor-smoking bills to the panel's Alcoholic Beverage Control/Gaming subcommittee. That panel has been unfriendly to indoor-smoking legislation, and its chairman, Del. Thomas D. Gear, R-Hampton, says he sees no reason to think that will change.

"If anything, I am more solidified than ever that government should not be doing this," Gear said. "Two of my favorite restaurants have gone smoke-free [voluntarily]. Let the owners do what their customers want."

Supporters of a ban believe the bills should go to a different committee, such as Health, Welfare and Institutions, in hopes of getting it to a vote of the full chamber.

"We think it is going to pass the Senate easily, which just adds to the outrage of what is happening in the House," said Hilton Oliver, executive director of Virginia GASP, or Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public.

"The issue of smoking in restaurants has nothing to do with ABC and gaming, but it has a whole lot to do with health," Oliver said. "They are playing games there [in the House], no question about it."

All the bills must advance through committees before reaching the Senate or House floors. In the Senate, the bills have been referred to the Education and Health committee.

EXCERPTS from The Bristol Herald Courier, TriCities.com, Editorial, March 12, 2008, headlined, "Virginia House needs to mothball the bill-killing machine", writer not given.

Give the Virginia House Republicans a hand. They operate an efficient bill-killing machine.

By the middle of last week, House subcommittees had dispatched 611 bills that originated in their chamber, according to a Media General News Service report. Some bills were killed overtly; others were simply left for dead without so much as a debate or a vote.

This tally doesn’t include Senate bills that made it to the House only to be subjected to the same fate. The House Subcommittee on Studies finished off 29 Senate bills in a single session late last month.

House Republicans laud this system for its efficiency. We won’t argue that point. It takes far less time to simply ignore bills than to act on them.

But critics point to other, darker motives. House subcommittee votes aren’t recorded, and subcommittee meetings aren’t always announced in advance. Some meetings take place early in the morning or late in the evening, when it’s harder for the press and public to attend.

The summarily dispatched Senate bills included a proposal by Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, to create a Southwest Virginia Cultural Heritage Commission to help this region capitalize on its history and music. Perhaps the subcommittee prefers rock to bluegrass or traditional country music.

But it wasn’t just lower-profile bills that died in subcommittee this year. The House used the system most efficiently to deal with controversial legislation – in some cases measures that a vast majority of constituents favor but big benefactors in industry oppose.

Thus, subcommittee death was the fate of all bills to ban smoking in restaurants; a bill to close the so-called “gun show loophole,” which allows private individuals to sell weapons at gun shows without checking the background of purchasers; and a bill that would have created a bipartisan redistricting panel to redraw legislative districts.

All three bills deserved to be made law. The least the House could and should have done was to allow a full vote by its members on these high-profile initiatives.

This General Assembly session is almost over. In the interest of government transparency, House Republicans should record subcommittee votes next year – at a minimum. They might also decide to start giving important legislation a fair shake, even the controversial bits. Retire the bill-killing machine.

EXCERPTS from The Virginian-Pilot, February 27, 2008, headlined, "Virginia Beach council stands by smoking-ban bills", writer, Deirdre Fernandes.

State legislators may have extinguished any hope of a smoking ban in restaurants, but some members of the Virginia Beach City Council said they are not letting the flame die.

In an 8-3 vote, the council approved a resolution Tuesday night reaffirming its support for a statewide smoking ban or legislation allowing cities to prohibit smoking in restaurants.

Smoking ban bills ... appear to be dead, although all five South Hampton Roads cities supported them.

Beach Councilwoman Rosemary Wilson said the city's restaurant association has fought hard for the ban and the council should back the group as it tries to revive the legislation.

"I'm supportive of this resolution, but it may fall on deaf ears," said Councilman Ron Villanueva. City officials should consider other options, including asking the Assembly next year to change Virginia Beach's charter so the council can ban smoking in restaurants, he said.

Beach leaders could also give restaurants that voluntarily ban smoking a city seal of approval, he said.

Council members Bill DeSteph, Harry Diezel and Reba McClanan voted against the resolution.

Diezel said the city shouldn't force restaurants to become nonsmoking.

"It's a choice issue," he said.

EXCERPTS from TriCities.Com, February 26, 2008, headlined, "Air Quality In The Non-Smoking Sections Of Restaurants", reporter/photographer, Nate Morabito.

Smoking or non-smoking? Customers don't have to hear that at most restaurants in Tennessee anymore, but is the state's smoking ban making a difference?

The ban took effect on October 1, 2007; eight months after News Channel 11 investigated the dangers of second-hand smoke in the non-smoking sections of restaurants. Through the investigation, we found the fans, smoke-eaters, and perforations between the smoking and non-smoking sections didn't stop a large amount of smoke from entering the non-smoking section.

The same is still true in Virginia where legislators have not passed a smoking ban.

When Tennessee's smoking ban went into effect, customers raved about the difference inside their favorite eateries, but is that difference perceived or legitimate? Your Tri-Cities News Source rented an air quality monitor to find out. It is the same one we used in February 2007. It monitors particles in the air, including those that come from cigarettes.

We took the technology inside three Tennessee restaurants that tested poorly last February. ... during a peak meal time ... we learned the smoking ban did clear the air.

We found the biggest difference at the Johnson City IHOP. Last year, the restaurant registered a hazardous reading of more than 250 micrograms per cubic meter of air, that according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s outdoor air quality index. This time, the monitor showed a great reading of just 14.

The Chili's in Kingsport also brought in a hazardous reading last time. Not on this trip, a reading of just 24. Also in 2007 before the ban, the Elizabethton Applebee’s racked up a score of more than 150, a very unhealthy reading. This time, the reading was much better at 62.

Unfortunately, we can't say the same about all of the restaurants just across the border in Virginia. Restaurants in the Commonwealth still allow smoking. No surprise, three of the six we tested came up with unhealthy readings.

Even though we sat in the non-smoking sections of the IHOP and Logan's Roadhouse in Bristol and the Cracker Barrel in Abingdon, all three registered unhealthy readings. The lowest was still four times worse than the air we tested outside.

However, the air was clean at the Shoney's in Bristol. There, you won't find ashtrays on the tables and the only smoke you'll see comes from the food.

"It's very nice to be able to sit back here, to be able to talk and eat without smoke in the air,” Shoney’s Customer Wesley Simons said.

The five Shoney's in Southwest Virginia went smoke-free in 2002.

"It was the hardest choice to make and it was very difficult, but it was very rewarding in the end,” Shoney’s Vice President Mike Orzechowski said.

Orzechowski now urges other restaurants to do the same. He says business won't suffer. It didn't for Shoney’s.

"We had a gentleman that eats lunch about three or four times a week said, ‘I will never be back,’” Orzechowski said. “About two weeks later, I'd go by and pat him on the back and say, ‘good to see you.’"

Still, many smokers don’t like the idea of a smoking ban. The bans don’t just affect restaurants.

"Nobody's saying that it's not bad for you, but it's still our right," Interstate Bowl Manager Janie McCoy said.

Bowling alleys often lose out too. McCoy thinks it should be a businesses choice.

"It's like these people that wear cologne, it affects me, it causes me to have migraines, that affects my health, are they going to take that away from them?" McCoy said.

Smoker and bowler Robin Crisp also hopes leaders spare what she calls her right.

"It eliminates us from doing a lot of things,” McCoy said. "That's just all there is to it."

But it appears Southwest Virginia legislators agree something eventually needs to be done. Sen. William Wampler (R-40th District) voted in favor of a bill that would have let local governments ban smoking. That bill failed. [Web Editor's note, it passed the Senate, defeated in House subcommittee.]

"There are some major health concerns and that's why as a Senate, I think we opted to vote for a measure like that and let's just see what happens over a year or two like other states have done,” Wampler said.

Despite hearing our results last year, Del. Terry Kilgore (R-1st District) told us he would not support smoking bans. This year he says he could be swayed. Still, he would rather government butt out of this debate.

"It would be good if for a while if a lot of establishments are going non-smoking, this may take care of itself and the government will not have to be involved because consumers will make the choice with their feet,” Kilgore said.

But that could be a slow process and until something changes in Virginia, it seems Tennesseans will breathe the better air.

EXCERPTS, Editorial, The Bristol Herald Courier, Sunday, February 25, 2008, headlined, "One last shot to clear the smoky air in Virginia restaurants", writer, Andrea Hopkins, Opinion Editor.

The power to revive Virginia’s restaurant smoking ban legislation – and give it a full and fair vote – rests in the hands of one woman.

Delegate Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, holds the keys to unlock the smoking ban bills before the legislative session ends on March 8. She should do just that.

Suit is chairwoman of the General Laws Committee. At present, four bills that would place various restrictions on public smoking in the state are languishing in a subcommittee that reports to her. The six-member subcommittee tabled the bills without a recorded vote, effectively leaving them to die there.

THE PEOPLE of Virginia deserve better than such an undemocratic, unaccountable process.

As committee chairwoman, Suit can revive the bills and bring them before her 21-member committee for a vote. While there are no guarantees that the committee would send the bills to the floor, it’s the best shot for the ban’s survival.

Ban backers, although discouraged, aren’t giving up yet. Gov. Tim Kaine, who has pushed for the policy change for two years, sounded somewhat optimistic that a work-around solution to get the bill to the House floor will be found.

"The bills were tabled. They’re not dead yet," Kaine told this newspaper’s editorial board last week. "There are a couple of alternatives being kicked around."

THE GOVERNOR indicated he is still talking with legislators about changes to the bills that could make them more palatable to a reluctant House. Among the options under consideration, compromise language that would exempt bars from the requirements or allow smoking after 10 p.m.

Tennessee opted for a similar exemption in route to successful passage of its relatively broad public smoking ban last year. Businesses that prohibit customers and employees under age 21 are exempt from the Volunteer State smoking ban, as are cigar bars.

But the vast majority of Tennessee’s restaurants – including the chain restaurants that cater to families, but also have a bar area – are now smoke-free. There has been no major outcry against the law, even in a state that was once as enthralled with tobacco as Virginia.

In both states, the public supports a restaurant smoking ban; a recent poll in Virginia placed that support at 75 percent. This makes sense, considering that smokers are just 19.6 percent of Virginia’s population and 26 percent of Tennessee’s population.

IT ISN’T just the public that is pushing for smoke-free restaurants. The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association, an industry group with more than 100 members, is playing an active advocacy role in the debate. The group wants smoke-free restaurants, but wants a state law that would provide a level playing field for all eating establishments.

"The vast majority of restaurants support the ban and the vast majority of our customers support it," said Matt Falvey, owner of the Hot Tuna restaurant in Virginia Beach and a former head of the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association. "All we’re asking for is a chance to argue this in the committee."

Suit, who represents the Virginia Beach area in the legislature, was once on the same side of the issue – voting in favor of a smoking ban last year. Ban supporters suspect she changed sides because of pressure from House Speaker William Howell, a reliable ally of Big Tobacco, who appointed Suit to head the General Laws Committee.

If so, this is the worst kind of politics. The will of the people should never be subverted by the influence of special interests or the political ambitions of a single lawmaker.

The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association took out full-page ads in the Virginian-Pilot targeting Suit last week. The group is urging residents from all across the state to call or e-mail Suit and other key lawmakers and ask for a full committee hearing on the smoking ban bills.

SUIT DESERVES to hear from every Southwest Virginia resident who is concerned about their health or that of their children and grandchildren, but this public action campaign shouldn’t end there.

Three local lawmakers sit on Suit’s General Laws committee – Delegates Dan Bowling, D-Tazewell; Bud Phillips, D-Sandy Ridge; and Bill Carrico, R-Independence. Bowling, the token Democrat on the bill-killing subcommittee, opposes the ban. Both Carrico and Phillips voted against similar bills in previous sessions.

Despite their previous votes, local residents should still contact these lawmakers and ask that the bill get a full committee hearing. Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, also should hear from constituents because of his role as the House Republican Caucus Chairman. He has considerable influence.

The region’s lawmakers should use their influence and power to provide lasting protection for their constituents’ health. The restaurant smoking ban is a good law. It protects the health of restaurant patrons and workers – the vast majority of whom have chosen not to smoke. Why should their lives be placed in jeopardy by the careless decisions of others and the willful neglect of state lawmakers?

Virginia has one last shot to clear the air in its restaurants this year. Take the shot. Join Tennessee and 21 other states that have embraced a cleaner, healthier future.

EXCERPTS from TriCities.Com The Bristol Herald Courier, February 23, 2008, Editorial, headlined, "Marching orders from House GOP on smoking ban?", writer not given.

Virginia Delegate Dan Bowling offered a unique defense of his vote to kill smoking-ban legislation. The Republican leadership made him do it.

Bowling’s defense is particularly problematic because he’s a Democrat. He owes no allegiance to the Republican House leadership.

And yet, Bowling told The Voice, an alternative newspaper in Buchanan County, that he was compelled to vote as the Republicans desired.

"We were told that we were expected to vote that way because they wanted a 5-0 vote" against the bills, Bowling told The Voice.

Bowling was one of six members of the House Alcoholic Beverage Control and Gaming Subcommittee who voted down eight separate smoking-ban proposals. He is the sole Democrat on the subcommittee. The votes were unanimous, but there is no official record of them, since the House does not record subcommittee votes.

More problematic from the standpoint of the democratic process, Bowling and his subcommittee henchmen represent just 6 percent of the House membership. Such a small fraction of the House shouldn’t be able to scuttle an issue so vital to the health and well-being of state residents.

The smoking-ban measures – which sailed through the Senate with bipartisan support – deserve a full and fair hearing in the House.

Bowling’s efforts to spin his vote in the best light possible don’t end with his rather disingenuous claim that the Republicans made him do it. He also challenges our assertion in a previous editorial that he took $1,500 from the tobacco industry last year.

Bowling told The Voice that he might have accepted "several small checks" that added up to $1,500 over the "time that he has been an elected delegate."

Actually, Bowling accepted two contributions from Richmond-based Altria – $500 last June and $250 in 2006 – and $750 from S&M Brands last May. Perhaps those are what he means by small checks.

We didn’t make those numbers up; they come from the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project and are taken from official state campaign finance disclosure forms filled out by the candidate.

Bowling was elected in 2006 to fill the unexpired term of Delegate Jackie Stump and was re-elected in 2007. In both years, he bested Mickey McGlothlin, a Buchanan County lawyer, for the Democratic nomination. The 2006 race also featured a Republican and two independents.

During the Democratic nominating contests, McGlothlin was dogged by allegations that he wasn’t a "true Democrat" because he had given a substantial sum of money to Jerry Kilgore, a Republican gubernatorial candidate. One wonders how Bowling’s apparent allegiance to the Republican House leadership will play with those who supported him because they thought he was a true blue Democrat.

In fairness, Bowling offers another defense of his vote. Such loyalty to the Republicans is necessary in order to bring home the pork to his district.

In the same article in The Voice, Bowling said he had to vote that way in order to keep his seat on the Appropriations Committee. He also suggested his vote was necessary to secure $250,000 for the Booth Center – a distance learning facility on the campus of the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy. Of course, most of the funding for that project came from a private benefactor and from the Appalachian Regional Commission. And it seems unlikely that Delegate Terry Kilgore, who is the House Republican Caucus chairman and a solid supporter of the law school, would have pulled funding or allowed others to do so for such a project because of a vote on the smoking-ban bills.

Bowling’s explanations just don’t make sense.

If Bowling opposes a public smoking ban, he should say so. He should be man enough to stand behind his vote rather than claiming that the Republicans made him do it.

EXCERPTS from The Virginian Pilot, February 20, 2008, Editorial, headlined, "Last gasp on smoking ban", writer not given.

Del. Terrie Suit's favorite restaurant is already smoke-free.

The stench of smoldering tar no longer spoils her omelets at the Jewish Mother at the Oceanfront. She can linger over breakfast for a chat without her throat feeling scratchy.

Suit says she dropped her support for restaurant smoking bans this year because many eateries have already voluntarily prohibited cigarettes and cigars. Specifically, the Republican delegate recounts her delight when the popular Virginia Beach deli recently banned smoking.

We're very happy for her, but what about the rest of us?

Suit notes that her constituents have plenty of options when they want to dine out without inhaling someone's else exhaust. ...

But folks in Saxis, Big Stone Gap, Elkton and Montross aren't so lucky. The small towns that dot the Eastern Shore, Southside, Southwest and other rural regions typically have only a handful of restaurants to choose from, and the local establishments are often less mindful of public health concerns than their tourist-dependent cousins at the Beach.

Last week, a House subcommittee shot down the last of this year's bills calling for a smoking ban in restaurants. The six-member group, which includes Dels. Tom Gear of Hampton and John Cosgrove of Chesapeake, even rejected a request by Hampton Roads communities for permission to adopt local bans.

Because a majority of the House General Laws committee is unlikely to demand a full hearing, the bills are dead unless the chairman of the panel intervenes. Suit controls the General Laws gavel, but she refuses to use her power to revive the measure, even though she voted for a smoking ban last year.

A mother whose son suffers from a lung ailment asked subcommittee members last week, "Who exactly do you think you're voting for?"

Perhaps the $17,500 collected by the six delegates last year from tobacco companies might help to answer her question. But what about Suit? She collected no cigarette contributions in 2007 and returned a donation the previous year.

Whom is she representing? Not her constituents, more than 70 percent of whom favor a ban. Not her local government representatives, who are eager to embrace public health protections. Not Virginia Beach restaurants, who lobbied for a ban through their association.

Suit owes her chairmanship to Speaker Bill Howell, an opponent of smoking restrictions. She insists he has not influenced her decision, but she understandably feels an obligation to her leader. Even so, she must weigh his desires against the thousands of constituents asking her to give this important issue a fair hearing.

Until she does that, those smoke-free omelets at the Jewish Mother will never taste quite right.

EXCERPTS from The Bristol Herald Courier, February 17, 2008, Editorial, headlined, "Doing the bidding of Big Tobacco", writer not given.

In a supreme show of political cowardice, six Virginia delegates acted unilaterally Thursday to prevent a floor vote on smoking ban legislation.

They thwarted the people’s will.

Seventy-five percent of Virginians want a restaurant smoking ban. So do Gov. Tim Kaine and 28 state senators, including Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Lebanon, and Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol.

In fact, the Senate passed four bills that imposed various restrictions on public smoking earlier this month. All passed by healthy margins and had bipartisan support.

Too bad those bills didn’t get a fair hearing in the House of Delegates. Instead, they were consigned to a subcommittee with a reputation for killing such measures. ...

As expected, the Alcoholic Beverage Control and Gaming Subcommittee dispatched all of the Senate’s bills without debate – or a recorded vote. The gang of six subcommittee members left no official trace of their nefarious act.

The subcommittee includes four Republicans, Dave Albo, John Cosgrove, Thomas Gear and Thomas Wright Jr.; independent Watkins Abbitt Jr., who caucuses with the GOP; and a local Democrat, Dan Bowling of Tazewell.

All six members took campaign contributions from Big Tobacco last year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Gear took the most, just under $5,000; followed by Abbitt, $4,150; Albo, $3,750 and Wright, $1,750. Bowling and Cosgrove took $1,500 each.

Albo and Gear also dined on tobacco’s dime last year and Abbitt accepted a $122 box of cigars as a gift. Perhaps he plans to smoke them in a restaurant near his Appomattox home.

Shame on them all. And shame on the House GOP leadership for allowing these bills to go down without a full and fair hearing and a floor vote.

The House has 100 members; six percent of its membership should not decide an issue of such importance to state residents’ health and welfare.

The slimmest of opportunities remains to revive the legislation. The full House General Laws Committee could ignore the recommendation by the subcommittee and bring the ban bills back for a hearing. The full committee has 21 members, including nine Democrats. Surely, not all of them are obligated to the tobacco industry.

We urge the committee to revive the bill and send it to the House floor for a full and fair debate.

Six delegates – all with financial ties binding them to Big Tobacco – should not have the final say on smoking ban legislation. Do the will of the people.

EXCERPTS from The Virginian-Pilot, February 20, 2008, headlined, "Ad aims to revive bill on smoking ban", writer, Warren Fiske.

Looks like Del. Terrie Suit, R-Virginia Beach, may be getting a lot of calls.

The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association is urging people across South Hampton Roads to phone Suit and ask her to revive recently killed legislation that would ban smoking in Virginia restaurants. The group made the request in a full-page advertisement Wednesday in The Virginian-Pilot.

Suit is the only the lawmaker who can breathe life into the legislation, under the rules of the House of Delegates. But she says emphatically that she will not.

A variety of bills to stomp out smoking ... were killed this month by a seven-member subcommittee of the House General Laws Committee.

Suit, as chairwoman of General Laws, is empowered to ignore the subpanel’s action and bring the bills up for consideration by the entire 22-member committee.

That would be the fair thing to do, officials of the restaurant association say. They say it is unjust that restaurant smoking bans – which affect health and were approved by the 40-member state Senate – can be crushed by only seven of the 100 members in the House of Delegates.

“There’s a lot of support for the legislation,” said Matt Falvey, a past president of the association, which represents about 150 restaurants. “We feel all representatives should have a chance to vote on it.”

Suit said she does not want to waste time on measures that have no chance of passing the full committee. She noted that the state ban was killed 7-0 in the subcommittee. “That does not warrant bringing it up again,” she said.

Among the members of the subcommittee is Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake.

Suit said it would “set a bad precedent” to override the subcommittee. A lthough she supported a smoking ban last year, she said she opposes it this time. She said eateries should be free to decide whether to allow smoking and patrons should be free to choose where to dine.

“It’s so overwhelming, the number of restaurants that have gone smoke-free, that I don’t believe government has to mandate it,” she said.

Falvey said Suit is forgetting about restaurant workers who inhale secondhand smoke. “The employees often can’t vote with their feet,” he said.

The ad is headlined, “An open letter to the dining public.” It decries secondhand smoke and gives the phone number of Suit’s office in Richmond and the e-mail addresses of two powerful Republicans also opposing a ban: Speaker William Howell of Stafford and Majority Leader Morgan Griffith of Salem.

Although the Virginia Beach association supports the ban, many other restaurateurs and groups across the state opposed the legislation, including the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association.

EXCERPTS from TriCities.com, News Channel 11, February 22, 2008, online 6:00 pm, headlined, "Air Quality In The Non-Smoking Sections Of Restaurants", reporter, photographer, Nate Morabito.

EXCERPTS from The Daily Press, Associated Press, February 14, 2008 online late; The Potomac News, February 15, headlined, "House panel rejects last batch of Va. anti-smoking bills", writer Larry O'Dell.

A last-gasp effort to ban smoking in restaurants and most other public places died Thursday in a House of Delegates subcommittee.

The same panel that previously rejected several House bills to curb smoking did the same to a batch of Senate proposals. The voice vote was unanimous.

House rules, unlike those of the Senate, allow subcommittees to kill legislation rather than send it to a full committee for a recorded vote. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a proponent of the restaurant smoking ban, accused delegates of ducking a volatile issue.

"These guys don't want to be on the record on a matter like that," Kaine told reporters after the subcommittee vote.

The same panel rejected Kaine's restaurant smoking ban last year. The governor said he is unaware of any way to revive the issue before the General Assembly's scheduled March 8 adjournment.

The subcommittee heard familiar arguments from both sides of the issue. Supporters of the ban argued that government has a responsibility to protect residents from the health hazards of secondhand smoke. Opponents said government should butt out of private business decisions.

"This is an issue of choice and property owners' rights," Barrett Hardiman of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association told the ... subcommittee.

He said two-thirds of Virginia restaurants already prohibit smoking because "they are listening to what their customers want and are changing on their own."

Representatives of the Virginia Retail Merchants Association and the Cigar Association of Virginia also spoke against the bills.

Among those representing the other side were a breast cancer survivor, a University of Virginia student put off by the smoky interiors of bars and restaurants in a popular district known as The Corner, and a musician who must endure secondhand smoke in nightclubs.

The American Lung Association, the March of Dimes and the Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public also supported the bills.

But perhaps the most compelling testimony came from Sen. Ralph S. Northam, a physician and co-sponsor of the restaurant smoking ban. He described operating on a smoker whose lungs "looked literally like black soot." She died two days later.

"I vowed at that time early in my career that I would never put a cigarette in my mouth and would stay away from secondhand smoke as much as possible and do whatever I can to keep other people away from secondhand smoke," said Northam, D-Norfolk.

He also spoke of delivering heartbreaking news to the parents of victims of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Secondhand smoke increases the risk of SIDS, he said.

Subcommittee members, however, were not persuaded.

Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, said he would be willing to consider tighter smoking regulations if the state ever establishes separate categories for bars and restaurants. The current law only defines restaurants, some of which are licensed to sell alcohol.

But he said legislation sponsored by Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, to ban smoking in nearly all indoor public spaces goes way too far.

"I'm not really against doing something, but I would never vote for a bill that does it in all buildings," Albo said. "If a man wants to smoke a cigar in his office he ought to be able to."

The subcommittee also rejected bills allowing localities, either statewide or just in Hampton Roads, to enact their own smoking bans.

Anne Morrow Donley, co-founder of Virginia GASP, criticized the delegates for putting public health in the hands of private enterprise.

"If they had been in government in the 1860s they'd have said each plantation owner can free slaves if they want to," Donley fumed. "They have no compassion."

EXCERPTS from The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 15, 2008, headlined, "Bills to ban public smoking defeated; Subcommittee squashes measures for smoke-free restaurants for the term", writer Olympia Meola.

A handful of delegates quickly extinguished the remaining smoking-ban bills yesterday, all but killing any chance of mandatory smoke-free restaurants this year.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who saw another one of his initiatives die with the unanimous vote, criticized the way delegates killed the bundle of bills at one time in a subcommittee without a recorded vote.

"These guys don't want to be on the record on something like that," he said. "So the idea of [let's] hide these matters in subcommittees and not make people vote on these matters is a . . . strategy you expect to see on something like this when people are afraid to be on the record."

From their perch in a smoke-free conference room in the General Assembly Building, delegates listened to senators present their versions of smoking-ban bills -- ranging from narrowly prohibiting smoking in restaurants, bars and lounges to barring it in all public places.

Six delegates squashed legislation that 75 percent of Virginians favor, Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, said after yesterday's meeting. She was citing a survey of voters released by groups such as the American Lung Association.

"It is a very important public health issue and Virginia needs to take action," she said.

Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, one of the only subcommittee members who explained his stance before voting against the measures, said he does not oppose taking some kind of action, he just will not vote to ban smoking in all buildings. He suggested looking at making a distinction in the law for restaurants and bars to tailor the bans.

Kaine said that could be discussed but he noted that some lawmakers indicated they would be more open to a ban on only indoor restaurants and bars but that bill died this year too.

Speakers favoring the bans on smoking in restaurants or public places told delegates yesterday it was a public health issue that the government needs to address. Restaurant-industry representatives said individual businesses know what's best for them and the decision should be theirs. If people stop frequenting restaurants that allow smoking, the business will change, they said.

Lorene E. Alba, an asthma specialist with the American Lung Association and previous Newport News restaurant owner, said she has polled restaurants in that area about a proposed ban and heard that many were afraid to offend, and lose the business of, smokers or nonsmokers.

"So the industry is not able to make this decision by themselves," she said.

Kaine, meanwhile, said he doesn't currently see another vehicle to revive a ban this year. He said the bans are "probably at the end of the road. Although you never know."

EXCERPTS from The Washington Post, February 15, 2008, headlined, "Hopes for Public Smoking Ban Are Snuffed Out", writer Anita Kumar, contributions from Tim Craig.

The Virginia House of Delegates defeated several proposals Thursday to prohibit smoking in restaurants, stores, offices and other public places, effectively killing all anti-smoking legislation for this year's General Assembly session.

The District and more than 20 states, including Maryland, have banned smoking in restaurants and other public places because of health concerns.

The House decision, which was not entirely unexpected, was a setback for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), who had made a smoking ban one of his priorities for the 60-day legislative session.

A subcommittee of the House General Laws Committee considered four bills that the Senate had passed, including one favored by Kaine that would have prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars.

The six-member subcommittee, controlled by Republicans, did not debate the bills before Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) suggested that they be set aside. Committee members agreed after chairman Thomas D. Gear (R-Hampton) had repeatedly asked why restaurants do not ban smoking.

"I'm sympathetic, but I don't see something I can live with," Albo said.

Last week, the same subcommittee killed eight similar proposals from House members. Thursday's action means all the anti-smoking bills introduced in the 60-day legislative session are dead.

Kaine said it's "not surprising" that the bills were killed in a subcommittee without a recorded vote. "These guys don't want to be on the record with something like that," he said. "The leadership of the House is very afraid to have this matter voted on in an up-or-down vote. They want to bury it in subcommittee."

The proposals varied. Some included an outright ban in all public places or only in restaurants; one measure would have given local jurisdictions the option to enact smoking bans.

The bills were supported by many health organizations, including the national lung, cancer and heart associations, but were opposed by the tobacco, restaurant and retail industries and groups that protest excessive government intervention.

"They are listening to what their customers want. They are doing this on their own," said Barrett Hardiman, director of government relations for the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, which represents about 1,100 restaurants in the state. "These bills are not necessary. The market is responding."

But Lorene E. Alba, a former restaurant owner in Hampton who works for the American Lung Association, told the committee that restaurant managers are worried about losing customers who smoke and need the state to act. "The industry is not able to make this decision" itself, she said.

Virginia law requires restaurants that seat more than 50 people to set aside a section for nonsmokers.

Polls show strong support for a smoking ban, especially in Democratic-leaning Northern Virginia.

"We were sent here to Richmond to represent our constituents," said Sen. Ralph S. Northam (D-Norfolk), a pediatric neurosurgeon who introduced one of the bills. "I ask all of you to join me to do what constituents want."

The proposals were designed in large part to protect the health of restaurant workers. Studies show that they are exposed to higher levels of secondhand smoke than people in homes or offices. But opponents say the bills unfairly single out restaurants, most of which have banned smoking voluntarily.

Both sides of the debate agree that smoking bans have gained momentum because of actions by other states and a study in 2006 by the U.S. surgeon general that concluded that secondhand smoke causes death and disease.

The Virginia Department of Health estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for 1,700 deaths in the state each year.

"We want clean, healthy air," said John O'Donnell, part of the Rachel Leyco Band in Richmond, which often plays in smoke-filled bars.

EXCERPTS from The Virginian-Pilot, February 14, 2008, headlined, "Last of this year's anti-smoking bills killed by legislators," writer Richard Quinn.

The last four bills that would have banned smoking in public places or restaurants in Virginia were killed this afternoon, pushing the anti-smoking effort off at least one more year.

The four Senate bills ... couldn’t muster enough support to make it out of a House of Delegates subcommittee hearing. They died with a unanimous voice vote. The proposals were SB202, SB298, SB347 and SB501.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, who made the smoking ban a legislative priority for this session, said after the vote that he wasn’t surprised. The bills passed the Democratically-controlled Senate, but had little support in the House, which is controlled by Republicans.

“These guys didn’t want to be on the record on something like that,” said Kaine, a Democrat.

Del. Tom Gear, R-Hampton, repeatedly said that if restaurateurs want to ban smoking, they can do it without a state law. Gear, the subcommittee’s chairman, allowed about 30 minutes of testimony, which included emotional tales of smoking damage and lobbyists asking the delegates to let business owners decide for themselves.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Letter to the Editor, The Virginia Beach Beacon, April, 2008, writer Hilton Oliver, Virginia Beach, VA.

In a democracy, voters have every right to be furious when elected representatives place their personal ambitions ahead of their constituents. Such is the case with Delegate Terrie L. Suit, who is personally responsible for killing all of the bills last session which would have banned smoking in restaurants and other public places. Surveys have shown that seventy-five to eighty percent of her constituents support such a ban.

The full State Senate passed four solid bills, three of them by a three-to-one margin. All Senators from South Hampton Roads voted for all four bills. However, as chairman of the House General Laws Committee, Delegate Suit then insisted upon assigning them all to the same six-member, pro-tobacco subcommittee which killed such bills the previous two years. She then refused to use her authority to order a full committee vote. Her bogus explanations of these actions to both the press publicly and to her constituents individually lacked any trace of candor.

For three years, 94 out of 100 Delegates have been excluded from voting by such political games. Twelve separate bills on smoking were introduced in this session, and Czarina Suit denied all of them a full committee hearing.

Delegate Suit's actions are even more outrageous because she previously supported a restaurant smoking ban. She just coincidentally reversed her position when the tyrannical House Speaker, William J. Howell, selected her as committee chairman. Howell and his PAC have received over $139,000.00 in tobacco contributions since 2002. So the game is foolproof: Big Tobacco buys the Speaker, he assigns pro-health bills to Delegate Suit's committee, and she sends them to the hostile subcommittee to die.

Terrie Suit has exhibited utter contempt for her constituents' wishes and has perverted the entire legislative process. When a lawmaker attains that level of arrogance, there is only one solution. On November 3, 2009, voters of Virginia Beach's 81st District need to relieve her of her duties.

Letter to the Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, March 23, 2008, headlined, "Nicotine fit", writer Michael T. Caughney, M.D., Virginia Beach, VA.

As our representatives in Richmond wrap up another session, I find it interesting that they refuse to take any steps to protect me, or my children, from the horrific effects of secondhand smoke.

Yet at the same time, there is a media advertising blitz reminding me that if I don't wear my seat belt I am breaking the law.

What am I missing here? Not wearing my seat belt affects nobody but myself, but is illegal. Yet our lawmakers allow public smoking to remain legal.

Letter to the Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, March 23, 2008, headlined, "Too good to be true", writer Bill Werner, Virginia Beach, VA.

In her March 20 column, "Norfolk's plan to ban smoking may have blown up in its face," Kerry Dougherty says about 560 of Virginia Beach's 900 restaurants are smoke-free.

I'd love to know how she determined that number. I Googled "non-smoking restaurants Virginia Beach" and received several pages of encouraging results.

When I investigated further, however, I determined that if the phrase "non-smoking" appears anywhere in the restaurant's write-up (including the words "no non-smoking section"), it came up as a non-smoking restaurant. Also if smoking is permitted in the bar, it also counts as a non-smoking restaurant.

So if Ms. Dougherty has an accurate source that doesn't skew the results, I'd love to know about it. I really don't believe that 560 Virginia Beach restaurants are truly non-smoking.

Letter to the Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, March 23, 2008, headlined, "Please, quit smoking", writer Ruby McNelley, Norfolk, VA.

I have seen parents smoking in restaurants with their own children fanning the smoke from their faces.

Please find something more joyful to do than ruin your health and the health of those around you.

Letter to the Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, March 20, 2008, headlined, "Suit's smoking legacy", writer, Hilton Oliver, Virginia Beach.

Terry Parker was right on target with "Thanks for nothing, dear legislators," particularly on the public smoking issue. But those upset at the failure of proposed smoking bans should not blame the legislature, since the full Senate passed four solid bills.

Del. Terrie Suit is totally responsible for the fate of these measures. As committee chairwoman, she insisted on assigning them all to the same pro-tobacco subcommittee that killed such bills the last two years. She then refused to order a full committee vote.

Twelve separate bills on smoking were introduced this session, and Czarina Suit denied all of them a full committee hearing.

On Nov. 3, 2009, voters of Virginia Beach's 81st District should show Del. Suit the door.

Letter to the Editor, The Virginian-Pilot, March 9, 2008, headlined, "A hazard to women", writer, Warren Miller, Beale Street Restaurant (smoke-and transfat-free), Virginia Beach.

The California Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that secondhand smoke causes breast cancer in women. Younger women are at greatest risk. Restaurant servers have the highest exposure to secondhand smoke of all employment categories. And secondhand smoke accounts for about 30 percent of all breast cancer in that category.

The hardworking hospitality workers in Hampton Roads deserve clean air. Matter of fact, it's surprising no restaurant has been taken to court under the Civil Rights Act and its equal opportunities and protection provisions.

Think about it, Del. Terrie Suit.

Letter to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, February 25, 2008, headlined, "House subcommittee killed more than bills", writer Leonard L. Cuccaro, Roanoke.

I wish to thank the members of the House of Delegates subcommittee for killing the smoking ban bills ("Smoking bills die in House panel," Feb. 15).

I'm sure the 7,000 Virginians who die each year from smoking-related illnesses and another 1,000 who perish as a result of secondhand smoke would like to thank them too.

I guess the results of the poll released last month showing that 75 percent of Virginia voters favor a statewide law prohibiting smoking inside all public buildings and workplaces fell on closed ears. It is comforting to know that some of our elected officials place the interests of the tobacco lobby (oops, I mean the people of Virginia) first.

Letter to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, February 24, 2008, headlined, "Smokers impose hazards on others", writer, Heather English, Radford.

I am disappointed the bill to ban smoking in public areas was not passed by a Virginia House subcommittee. As a nonsmoker, I feel that this bill would do more to protect the rights of nonsmokers.

This would not only protect the rights of paying customers, but of those working in establishments that permit smoking. Recent research on the health effects of secondhand smoke shows that exposing children, nonsmokers and those with health problems, such as asthma, to smoke is a serious health risk.

I realize it is an individual's right to smoke. However, an individual's right should not encroach on the rights of others who wish to avoid the hazardous effects of secondhand smoke.

Several restaurants in the Roanoke Valley are nonsmoking, but the vast majority continue to allow patrons to smoke. It is a delight to visit other cities that have smoking bans in restaurants and bars. A ban would simply be an adjustment, one that would allow everyone to enjoy the same dining and entertainment options while protecting the health of everyone.

Letter to the Editor, The Roanoke Times, February 23, 2008, headlined, "Does tobacco lobby control the legislature?", writer Susan Simmons, Roanoke, VA

It is shame for all that the House subcommittee refuses to grow a spine and ban smoking in restaurants and all public places in Virginia. Do they still not realize that smoking and secondhand smoke cause cancer and an array of other health-related problems?

It is sad that low-wage restaurant employees must be exposed to smoke in order to keep their jobs. Sadder are the stupid parents who eat with their young children in the smoking section and blow smoke in their little faces. Yes, it is their so-called right.

Just travel to California, Florida, West Virginia or many other states and you will find that no one has the right to smoke in restaurants in those states. What is wrong with Virginia legislators? Are they slow, or are they just owned by the tobacco lobby?

Letter to the Editor, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 23, 2008, headlined, "Smoking Decision Isn't Up to Owners", writer, Marice Wiernicki, Chesterfield.

A recent "Week's End" stated that "the good guys won" regarding the defeat of the smoking ban. Saying that only the owner decides the rules in his restaurant is absurd. Smoking is a public health issue.

Restaurants and businesses for decades have been regulated by many requirements -- fire codes, electrical codes, building codes, health and sanitation requirements, all in the name of public health and safety. Yet, somehow, smoking is different?

Following this logic, a restaurant owner can decide what fire, building, and sanitation codes he chooses to follow. If you pushed this point of view the outcry would be tremendous.

There is a constant stream of studies -- and articles in The Times-Dispatch -- regarding the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke, yet the Editorial Page continues to ignore the obvious. It appears that the same head-in-the-sand mindset that infests our legislature also is strong in the editors.

Letter to the editor, The Roanoke Times, February 22, 2008, headlined, "Smoking ban works in Vermont", writer Sarah Williams, Radford.

Almost two years ago, I moved from Vermont to Virginia to attend graduate school. I was excited about moving for the obvious differences between the two states: the warmer summer and shorter winter. However, I was shocked by one major difference that had not entered my mind.

The night I arrived in Southwest Virginia, I went to dinner at a restaurant. The hostess asked whether I would like to be seated in the smoking or nonsmoking section.

Vermont banned smoking in restaurants many years ago, and in bars in 2004. I have heard many arguments both for and against smoking in public places, many of which focus around personal rights. I fully back Gov. Tim Kaine in his proposed smoking ban.

Coming from a state that already has similar bans, I want to say that people do get used to it and are able to smoke outside the bars and restaurants. The topic has not been discussed since right after the ban went into effect, and residents do not seem concerned with where they can and cannot smoke.

Please think about the health of those who choose not to smoke -- adults and children -- when deciding your stance on this subject.

Letter to the Editor, The Bristol Herald Courier, February 21, 2008, headlined, "Tell delegates to give ban a vote", writer, Hilton Oliver, Executive Director, Virginia GASP, Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public.

I recall learning in elementary school that we lived in a democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. The Virginia House of Delegates has made a mockery of that notion.

For the third straight year, the House leadership has used sleazy political maneuvering to kill widely popular bills to restrict public smoking. The bills have been intentionally routed to the illogical six-member subcommittee on Alcoholic Beverage Control and Gaming because those legislators are all known to be pro-tobacco. For three consecutive years, six delegates have prevented 100 delegates from even voting on this legislation.

Speaker William J. Howell, who is awash in tobacco contributions, opposes the bills and has sadly abused his power to circumvent the democratic process. His stooge is Delegate Terrie Suit, the new General Laws Committee chairwoman, who supported Gov. Tim Kaine’s effort at smoke-free restaurants last year but just coincidentally reversed her position after Howell made her committee chair. The bills obviously belong in the Health Committee anyway, but the speaker knows that committee would approve them.

Our legislators are plainly terrified that the clear will of Virginians could prevail over the will of Big Tobacco. The Senate passed four strong bills by a wide margin which would protect non-smokers. Unless the people of Virginia express their outrage, Howell and Suit will certainly spit on them again. Please demand that these bills receive a full and fair vote.

Letter to the Editor, The Daily Press, February 21, 2008, headlined, "Kids and smoke", writer, Jim Walsh, Williamsburg.

Come on, folks, do the right thing! Ban smoking in restaurants in Virginia. Not only will you be looking out for the health of servers and others who have no choice but to work in smoking sections (I guess they could become unemployed), but you will be preventing child abuse.

We have all been in restaurants where a family with infants or children requests to be seated in the smoking section. To my mind, these idiots should be beaten to within an inch of their lives. But, fortunately for them, we cannot do that. We can, however, still protect these children.

Legislators can ban smoking in all restaurants in Virginia. You can protect innocent lives. Do the right thing and do it now.

Letters to the editor, The Roanoke Times, February 20, 2008, headlined, "Smokers shouldn't foul the air of others", writer, Christie Loehrer, Roanoke.

As a nonsmoking resident of Virginia, I am disappointed by the decision of the House subcommittee to kill the bills to ban smoking in restaurants. Nonsmokers should be able to enjoy public outings without the possibility of being overwhelmed by cigarette smoke.

The argument goes, smoking citizens should have the right to smoke freely in public. I am in favor of the rights of individuals, but not at the cost of my health or the health of others. Secondhand smoke can be as damaging to nonsmokers as firsthand smoke is to those who make the decision to smoke.

I am concerned for people, like many in my family, who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and must constantly be aware of their environment due to the possibility of being exposed to cigarette smoke. Exposure could lead to severe medical problems.

I realize there are nonsmoking restaurants, but why should I be restricted to them when I want to enjoy my meals in an environment with clean air? I applaud the restaurants and public places in Southwest Virginia that have strict no-smoking policies. I hope that future legislation in Virginia is passed to ban smoking in public locations.

Letter to the Editor, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 20, 2008, headlined, "Government Should Set Restaurant Policies", writer Robert T. Adams, Richmond.

Collette Murstein and Homer Ballard disagree with my recent letter concerning the proposed smoking ban in restaurants.

Murstein asks whether restaurants should be required to have nut-free menus because her daughter is allergic to nuts. If a sufficient number of people were allergic to nuts and if a majority of the General Assembly and the Governor were to agree to require nut-free menus, then that would be an appropriate exercise of the state's police power.

The real nub of Ballard's criticism is that a smoking ban would "disenfranchise" smokers by not allowing them to smoke in restaurants. In other words, he argues that smokers have the right to pollute the air in public places, "forcing" everyone there to share in the smokers' poor health choice. I fail to see any rationality in a position that gives smokers superior rights. Simply because a restaurant is privately owned does not diminish its character as a public accommodation.

We all need to eat and should have the greatest possible latitude in choosing cuisine and location. In contrast, no one needs to smoke -- but, if one wishes to do so, he can do it on his own property without hurting the rest of us.

Letter to the Editor, The Daily Press, February 19, 2008, headlined, "The pro-cancer vote", writer, Jenni Connolly, Newport News.

Reference: "House panel rejects anti-smoking bills," Feb. 15. This House subcommittee consists of: Thomas D. Gear, Watkins M. Abbitt Jr., David B. Albo, Dan C. Bowling, John A. Cosgrove and Thomas C. Wright Jr.

These are the people voters can thank next time they are subject to someone else's smoke invading their lungs and destroying their health in a public place in Virginia.

These are the people we can thank for making sure that other people have the "right" to pollute our air and the "right" to poison us.

They say that we can just stay home and not frequent places where people smoke.

I agree, next time they are up for election, just stay home –– or better yet, let's elect some representation that is not pro-cancer, that cares about the air we breathe, and that does not completely disregard the opinion of the majority of the people in Virginia.

Letter to the Editor, The Daily Press, February 19, 2008, headlined, "Help nonsmokers", writer, John Marshall III, Newport News.

The House of Delegates panel responsible for killing nonsmoking proposals should be ashamed of themselves. They are allowing smokers the opportunity to continue to harm innocent nonsmokers.

A smoking ban would not keep a smoker from smoking. They can still light up, but not with the same secondhand smoke risks that have been present for nonsmokers in public establishments for what seems like forever.

I am a nonsmoker and have worked in a popular restaurant for 14 years. I have seen and heard many guests complain about the smoke that makes its way to our nonsmoking areas. As a result, we have lost some of these guests.

I hope my restaurant, all restaurants, and all public places allowing smoking will have the sense to ensure a healthy environment for employees and patrons by