Statewide smoking ban is dead, bill authors say

Publication Date: 2009-05-20

• Author:Corrie MacLaggan
• Publication:Austin (TX) American-Statesman

House member vows to bring it back again in 2011.

The authors of a proposed statewide indoor smoking ban declared the measure extinguished Tuesday, and one blamed the tobacco lobby.

"Big Tobacco is a powerful interest group to go up against," said the Senate author, Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. "But we made tremendous progress."

Ellis said that despite help from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, he couldn't win enough support in the Senate. At a news conference, Ellis and Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, the House author, vowed to bring the proposal back in 2011.