Kaine Proposes Smoking Ban, Vetoes 5 Bills

Publication Date: 2007-03-26

• Author:Amy Gardner
• Publication: Washington Post

Smoking would be banned in Virginia restaurants under a proposal announced Monday by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D).

Kaine said he will ask lawmakers to enact the smoking ban when they return to Richmond next week for a day...

Kaine stopped short of seeking a sweeping ban in most workplaces and public spaces, as some anti-smoking advocates had wanted, in part to protect the rights of smaller employers. The governor has previously banned smoking in state offices.

The original bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader H. Morgan Griffith (R-Salem), would have allowed restaurants to permit smoking so long as they posted a sign near the entrance explicitly stating that smoking is allowed...

The chances that lawmakers will accept Kaine's amendments is unknown. Griffith has said he supports a restaurant ban himself, but he also has stated that he promised fellow House Republicans that he would oppose efforts to strengthen his bill.