[Virginia GASP]  BUSINESS AS USUAL IN VIRGINIA

Governor James Gilmore - "Nicotine Jim" - Soft on Drugs:  Tobacco

Shamefully, two very simple, but life-saving, bills to restrict public smoking failed in Virginia in February, 1999.

You may link directly to the following:

Mary Huffard of The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association (VHTA) spoke against the bill, saying that restaurants do not need government telling them what to do.
You may contact Mary Huffard, Legislation, or Andrea Falzarano, President VHTA; Phone: 804-288-3065; e-mail: virgtravel@aol.com

You may contact these Virginia state officials who did not support these bills.
Governor Gilmore first opposed no-smoking in public restrooms of restaurants, then said he had no position on the bill.

Governor James Gilmore, called "Nicotine Jim" by Virginia GASP
governor@gov.state.va.us (State Capitol, 3rd Floor, Richmond, VA 23219)

Lt. Governor John Hager, retired tobacco company executive
ltgov@ltgov.state.va.us (900 East Main Street, Suite 1400, Richmond, VA 23219)

Attorney General Mark Earley, who like Gilmore and Hager has accepted thousands of dollars from the tobacco industry
mail@oag.state.va.us (900 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219)


FINAL OUTCOME, No Smoking at any time in any ambulance or other life-saving vehicle, House Bill 2512 - FAILED, February, 1999; no action taken in the House Courts of Justice Committee.

Most of the Delegates do not have e-mail addresses, except during the legislative session which is completed February 27, 1999. Regular addresses are given.

This was a bill sponsored by Delegate Robert Bloxom (P.O. Box 27, Mappsville, VA 23407). This was buried in a subcommittee, and considered so unimportant that it never surfaced again. Shamefully, the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General of Virginia did not work to see this bill pass, even though it would save lives without any cost to the Commonwealth.  Bloxom is a Republican, but his Republican Governor did not support this bill.


FINAL OUTCOME, No-Smoking in Public Restrooms in Restaurants Bill, House Bill 2429 - FAILED, February, 1999, in the House Counties, Cities, and Towns Committee by a vote of 12 against and 5 for.

The chief sponsor of the bill was Delegate William Barlow (P.O. Box 190, Smithfield, VA 23431), a Democrat.

The shameful actions of the Governor, James Gilmore, and the Virginia Department of Health, are detailed later in this text. Shamefully, Lt. Governor and Attorney General of Virginia did not work to see this bill pass either.

If you wish to "follow the money", you may look up the legislators, as well as the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General, on the Virginia Public Access Project web site. [www.opensecrets.org/vpap]

Each time you see the category, "Agriculture", you may click on that and link to subcategories, which often includes tobacco. You may also cross reference committees with industries, such as tobacco. For example, the members of the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee received more tobacco money than members of the Agriculture Committee, etc.

Co-Sponsors of the Bill
Delegates who signed on as co-sponsors of the bill were as follows:
James Almand; Flora Crittenden; Karen Darner; James Dillard; Morgan Griffith; Robert Hull; Robert Orrock; James Scott; Lionel Spruill; Marian Van Landingham; Vivian Watts.

Senators who signed on as co-sponsors of the bill were as follows:
Emily Couric; Patricia Ticer; Mary Margaret Whipple.


VOTES
Voting for the bill in the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee:
The final vote on Delegate Harvey Morgan's  motion to report the bill to the House was
12 No
5 Yes
1 Pass
4 Not Voting

This vote will NOT be shown on the Virginia General Assembly web site, since the final vote was to "lay the bill on the table" which put it into limbo until February 9th when the "crossover" of bills from one house to the other occurred. Then those bills in limbo officially died of "inaction".

Voting FOR the bill, 5 Yes votes:
Flora Crittenden, (co-sponsor of HB 2429) (P.O. Box 5046, Newport News, VA 23605).

Robert Hull, (co-sponsor of HB 2429) (P.O. Box 2331, Falls Church, VA 22042).

Michele McQuigg; michele@mcquigg.com (2241-R Tacketts Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA 22192).

Harvey Morgan (P.O. Box 949, Gloucester, VA 23061).

James Scott, (co-sponsor of HB 2429); deljscott@aol.com (P.O. Box 359, Merrifield, VA 22116-0359).
 

Voting AGAINST the bill, 12 no votes:
Co-Chairman Frank Hall (P.O. Box 3407, Richmond, VA 23235).

Co-Chairman Frank Hall sent a letter to Bob Hart in which Hall stated he would support this bill. But Hall was the first one to cast a vote AGAINST the bill.

Co-Chairman Riley Ingram (3302 Oaklawn Blvd., Hopewell, VA 23860).

Harry Blevins; hbblevins@erols.com (P.O. Box 16207, Chesapeake, VA 23328).

Preston Bryant, Jr. (P.O. Box 3589, Lynchburg, VA 24503).

Richard Cranwell; crcranwell@aol.com (P.O. Box 459, Vinton, VA 24179-0459).

Allen Dudley (1521 Altice Mill Road, Rocky Mount, VA 24151).
Delegate Dudley said that restaurants can already make their restrooms No-Smoking if they wish. They don't need government telling them what to do.

S. Chris Jones (P.O. Box 5058, Suffolk, VA 23435-0058).

Rev. Dwight Jones (1501 Decatur Street, Richmond, VA 23224).

Gladys Keating; delkeating@aol.com (5909 Parkridge Lane, Franconia, VA 22310).

Robert Marshall (P.O. Box 421, Manassas, VA 20108-0421).

Jackie Stump (P.O. Box 429, Oakwood, VA 24631).

Glenn Weatherholtz (2 South Main Street, Suite 606, Harrisonburg, VA 22801).
The restaurant association (Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association) approved of the remarks of Delegate Weatherholtz of Harrisonburg who said that many foreign visitors come to Virginia, and they would expect to be able to smoke in the public restrooms, like they do at home.

You may want to write to Glenn Weatherholtz and the restaurant association about what you think of their opposition to this bill, and "foreign" visitors expecting to smoke here.


Voting PASS:
Barnie Day; bkday@swva.net (604 Braswell Drive, Meadows of Dan, VA 24120).


4 NOT VOTING:
These are legislators who were not present when the vote was taken, for whatever reason, and did not care to take a position later. Legislators are free to record their vote after the fact, as long as it will not change the final outcome.

James O'Brien, Jr. (7903 Clifton Hunt Court, Clifton, VA 20124).

Robert Orrock, Sr., (co-sponsor of HB 2429) (10805 Crestwood Drive, Spotsylvania, VA 22553).

Lionell Spruill, Sr., (co-sponsor of HB 2429); LSVAHOUSE@aol.com (P.O. Box 5403, Chesapeake, VA 23324).

Donald Williams (809 W. Ocean View Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23503).


Governor James Gilmore and the Virginia Department of Health
In any other state, you would expect the Governor and the Department of Health to quickly embrace legislation which would protect the lives of little children, pregnant women, the unborn, and everyone else.

But this is Virginia, where our top officers in 1999 are soft on drugs, often protecting tobacco first, and the people someday.
 


Now, in 1999, under Governor James Gilmore, and with this most recent bill on public restrooms in restaurants, the Virginia Department of Health's Acting Health Commissioner, Dr. Anne Peterson, and the Deputy Health Commissioner, Dr. Cydette Powell, responding to Virginia Governor James Gilmore, phoned to tell Delegate Bill Barlow, sponsor of the bill, that they opposed the bill because it would interfere with business.

The Health Department does not oppose such a bill unless the Administration opposes it.  Their budget must be approved by the Governor.

Anne Morrow Donley of Virginia GASP intervened to question the Governor's office and the Health Department about this.

The Governor's office said they had nothing in writing and no official position on any bill not mentioned in the Governor's State of Commonwealth address earlier.

The Health Commissioner's office said they would find out, and after several calls back and forth over two days, GASP called the office of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to let them know that GASP was preparing a news release about the health department's position.

Shortly after that, the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Resources, Martin Brown, called Donley to say that the Administration opposed the bill because it would conflict with federal law.

Donley asked which federal laws, noting she was unfamiliar with any such law.

There was a brief pause, and then Brown laughed, and said, "I don't know what I'm talking about." He said he was repeating what he had been told to say. Brown said he would get the Health Commissioner herself to call Donley and explain the situation.

The Health Commissioner never called.

Eventually the legislative liaison in that office called to say that many things had been discussed including possible amendments, and a call would be coming within the hour.

Four hours later, Donley called the liaison. There will be a call within 15 minutes, she was told.

Within 15 minutes, a new voice called, to state that the Virginia Department of Health had no position whatsoever on the bill.

It was progress, perhaps, to have gone from opposition, to no position. This was, strangely enough, the exact position that the tobacco industry took: "no" position.

Later, the Governor's office put out the word that the Governor had never opposed this bill and indeed had never had a position on this bill and that "assumptions" had been made.

This was reminiscent of the "mistakes" allegedly made when Jim Gilmore was Attorney General. His spokesperson announced to the press that Attorney General Gilmore would not enforce the Food and Drug Administration regulations. Then Governor George Allen testily told the press that of course Virginia would enforce federal law. Shortly after came the "mistaken" assumption story to the press and the public.  [George Allen is a friend and user of tobacco products - spit tobacco.]

One has to ask why Governor Gilmore and Attorney General Earley, both aggressive "pro-life" politicians, could not support a bill that would protect the health of the fetus, as well as the health of pregnant women, children, and adults, and in addition provide an example for teenagers about not smoking in public because of the harm it would do to others.

The fact that

should not influence his decisions on health.

His Attorney General, Mark Earley, and his Lt. Governor, John Hager, all Republicans, also participated in the Tobacco Summit, and also have received thousands of dollars from the tobacco industry.

 Hager is a retired tobacco executive from American Tobacco Co., and an unannounced candidate for Governor.

 Earley, also running for Governor,


Hilton Oliver, Executive Director of Virginia GASP, has said, "Apparently Mark Earley uses a balancing test with his Christian principles, and these prevail only where the political lobby isn't too strong."

Governor James Gilmore, "Nicotine Jim",  may be reached at 804-786-2211; governor@gov.state.va.us   (State Capitol, 3rd Floor, Richmond, VA 23219)

Lt. Governor John Hager, retired tobacco company executive
ltgov@ltgov.state.va.us  (900 East Main Street, Suite 1400, Richmond, VA 23219)

Attorney General Mark Earley, who like Gilmore and Hager has accepted thousands of dollars from the tobacco industry.  Earley has written articles and given speeches about stopping college students from drinking alcoholic drinks, and encouraging people to help children.
mail@oag.state.va.us  (900 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219)
 


Events on February 5, 1999
On Friday morning, February 5, 1999:
Delegate Bill Barlow (D-64th House District) presented the bill to the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee, where it had been sent by the Speaker of the House.

The bill was supported by:
Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, Inc.
Virginia Pediatric Society
American Lung Association of Virginia
American Cancer Society of Virginia.

Delegate Dudley, on the committee, said that restaurants can already make their restrooms No-Smoking if they wish. They don't need government telling them what to do.

Representatives of the groups spoke briefly in support of the bill.

Donna Reynolds, of the American Lung Association, noted that many people who suffer from asthma could have a life threatening asthma attack triggered by smoke in a public restroom of a restaurant.

Anne Morrow Donley of Virginia GASP noted in response to Delegate Dudley's remarks that government already seeks to protect the health and safety of citizens by telling restaurants to refrigerate the chicken salad, to have kitchen staff wash their hands after using the toilet, and to have No-Smoking signs posted at gasoline pumps.

Bob Hart of Smithfield, Virginia, and owner of The Smithfield Inn said that his own Inn is smoke-free. He said that when he goes out to eat elsewhere, he wants to avoid smoke, as he is very sensitive to it. He noted that some dear and much loved relatives of his had died from smoking tobacco, and how their smoke had often given him headaches. Hart said that restrooms are often small, poorly ventilated, and used as a necessity, not a choice. He mentioned that people of all ages use them, and that children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the hazards of smoke.

Delegate Weatherholtz, on the committee, said that many foreign visitors come to Virginia, and they would expect to be able to smoke in the public restrooms, like they do at home.  Delegate Weatherholtz did not discuss other things that "foreign" visitors might do at home that they would expect to do in Virginia but would not be permitted to do.

Mary Huffard of  The Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association (VHTA) spoke against the bill, saying that restaurants do not need government telling them what to do.  You may contact Mary Huffard, Legislation, or Andrea Falzarano, President VHTA; Phone: 804-288-3065; e-mail: virgtravel@aol.com

The tobacco industry lobbyists were present, but did not speak. They told Delegate Barlow privately that the industry had "no position" on the bill.

A motion was made and seconded to "lay the bill on the table".

A substitute motion was made by Delegate Harvey Morgan, a Republican and staunch supporter of good health, to report the bill to the full House.

The roll call vote was then taken on the substitute motion, and it was killed. They then successfully voted to lay the bill on the table.

The Votes are given at the beginning of this page.


Remarks of Delegate William Barlow
before the House Counties, Cities and Towns Committee on Friday morning, February 5, 1999, regarding HB 2429.

HB 2429 is supported by the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the Virginia Group to Alleviate Smoking in Public, Inc., and the Virginia Pediatric Society. Mr. Robert Hart, a businessman from Smithfield, and owner of the Smithfield Inn, is here in support also.

With this bill you can
   make the majority of voters happy,
   help many people,
   hurt no one at all,
   and it can all be done for free.

The majority of people in Virginia have shown repeatedly in polls that they support smoke-free facilities.

This bill will put no one out of work and put no one off the farm.

The Journal of Public Health Management and Practice published a recent study of restaurants in New York and in Massachusetts revealing that business significantly INCREASED in towns where entire restaurants had to go smoke-free, and decreased in the towns with less protective regulations.

No-smoking signs can be provided by various health organizations.

This bill would add "public restrooms of restaurants" to the list of those places where state law already prohibits smoking, such as public restrooms of health care facilities, and of state buildings.

That list also includes indoor service and cashier lines, which affects every restaurant and other businesses in the Commonwealth.

This simple preventive health measure would hurt no one, no business, no farmer.

It would help innumerable people. Families that eat out, taking little children with them, elderly people eating out, pregnant women eating at a restaurant with family and friends, all of us need to be able to use a restroom that is smoke-free. It would make eating out a better and healthier experience.

Governor Gilmore and Governors before him have supported the health and safety of children, and the prevention of children smoking. This bill is consistent with that philosophy.


[Virginia GASP]Updated 24 July 1999