State moves toward smoking ban

Publication Date: 2007-06-22

• Author:KAREN ROEBUCK
• Publication:The Valley Independent

Pennsylvania is moving closer to a statewide smoking ban.

A state House committee Thursday approved one version, and the Senate plans to vote on a similar ban next week.

"It looks like legislation is moving," said Steven Peterson, political science professor at Penn State University's Harrisburg campus. The addition of exemptions that allow smoking in some places would test that movement, he said.

The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 28-1 to approve the Smoke-Free Pennsylvania Act, which would prohibit smoking in workplaces, bars, restaurants and casinos.

Smoking would be allowed in cigar bars, tobacco retailers and manufacturers, some hotel and motel rooms and in homes and vehicles not being used for child care businesses.