Special
Links on the current law, VPAP, and more
PLEASE
NOTE --
Senator Ralph Northam's (D) bill on no-smoking in restaurants passed (text
at this link), and Governor Timothy Kaine (D) has signed it.
Delegate John Cosgrove (R)
carried a bill which was used by the Speaker of the House, William
Howell (R), to be the Republican bill to match the Senate Democratic
bill for the
compromise between Howell and Kaine. It has also passed both
houses after changes to it, and the two bills became identical to each
other.
Delegate John
Cosgrove has been quoted in the press as saying that his constituents
support this legislation, and that the argument about government not
telling business what to do is ridiculous:
"Every restaurant is
regulated now: They have a business license, they
have an alcohol license, they have department of health regulations.
The nanny-ism argument is spurious. Some people say it's a
property-rights issue. People said the same thing when they didn't want
to integrate their restaurants." The
Virginian-Pilot.
Think of the lives that could have been
saved, the medical bills and suffering erased if he had voted his word
for the last three years when he voted with the other six members of
the Gaming subcommittee of General Laws to kill all the House and
Senate no-smoking bills. This year is an
election year.
Thursday, February 19th --
afternoon --
The conference committee revised the much battered "compromise"
restaurant bill, SB 1105, of Senator Northam. The Senate accepted
it on a vote of 27-13, and the House adopted it voting 60-39 (1 not
voting).
It
has removed the "shall permit smoking" replacing it with "may permit
smoking" under the exceptions allowed in prohibiting smoking in
restaurants and bars. The text of the current bill, which the
governor is expected to sign is at http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+ful+SB1105S2
This
essentially will require all restaurants and bars in Virginia to be
no-smoking as of December 1, 2009. The exceptions are a
separately ventilated smoking room with entrance from the outside
(which does not protect employees from secondhand and thirdhand smoke),
private clubs (carefully defined), private function held in a
separately ventilated room, mobile hot dog stands (which contradicts an
earlier 1950's law where smoking is prohibited around food
preparation), and tobacco industry cafes.
Senate Vote on SB 1105, Feb. 19th, accepting the conference committee
report:
YEAS--Albo, Alexander, Amundson,
Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Bell, Bouchard, Bowling, Brink, Bulova,
Caputo, Carrico, Cosgrove, Cox, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin,
Hamilton, Herring, Howell, A.T., Hull, Iaquinto, Joannou, Johnson,
Jones, Knight, Landes, Lingamfelter, Marsden, Marshall, R.G.,
Mathieson, May, McClellan, McQuinn, Melvin, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J.,
Morgan, Morrissey, Oder, Orrock, Phillips, Plum, Poisson, Purkey, Rust,
Scott, J.M., Shannon, Sickles, Spruill, Tata, Toscano, Tyler,
Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward, Watts, Mr. Speaker--60.
NAYS--Abbitt,
Athey, Byron, Cline,
Cole, Fralin, Frederick, Gear, Gilbert, Griffith, Hall, Hargrove,
Hogan, Hugo, Ingram, Janis, Kilgore, Lewis, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall,
D.W., Massie, Merricks, Nichols, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Peace, Pogge,
Poindexter, Pollard, Putney, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Shuler,
Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Wright--39.
NOT
VOTING--Crockett-Stark--1.
House Vote on SB 1105, adopting the conference committee report from
the Senate:
YEAS--Barker, Blevins, Colgan,
Deeds,
Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller,
J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam, Petersen, Puckett, Puller,
Quayle, Saslaw, Stolle, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Whipple--27.
NAYS--Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Reynolds, Ruff,
Smith, Stosch, Wampler, Watkins--13.
Thursday, Feb. 19th -- the subcommittee
composed of Delegates
Cline, Athey,
Poindexter, Gilbert, and Shuler of the House Militia, Police,
and Public Safety Committee "laid on the table" -- translation Killed -- Senator
Northam's SB
1106, no-smoking in cars when
children are present. Chair Beverly Sherwood had the power
to bring the bill before the full committee, but had
already voted AGAINST no-smoking in restaurants, in the compromise
bill. Remember, this bill had passed the Senate 30-10, but only 5
people in the House killed it.
Tuesday afternoon, February 17th -- Regarding the HB 1703, the House
compromise bill carried by John Cosgrove (see votes in six member
subcommittee in 2008, 2007 editions), this had passed the full House
with several tobacco industry amendments, and was sent to the Senate,
which assigned it to the Senate Local Government Committee, which met
Tuesday afternoon in its regular schedule. That committee has
passed the bill to the full Senate, where it may likely be stripped of
its amendments and enter the conference committee with Senator
Northam's bill.
The
Senate Local Government Committee vote, Feb. 17, 2009:
YEAS--Lucas,
Marsh, Quayle, Ticer, Puller, Herring, Locke, Stuart--8
NAYS--Martin,
Hanger, Reynolds, Ruff, Cuccinelli, Obenshain, Smith--7
Tuesday,
February 17th -- Regarding Senator Northam's SB 1105 -- which
passed the Senate, was transformed into a compromise bill by the House
committee and then tobacco industry amendments added to it in the full
House, the
Senate then removed the amendments. Now --
02/17/09 House: House insisted on amendments
02/17/09 House: House requested conference committee
02/17/09 Senate: Senate acceded to request (33-Y 7-N)
02/17/09 Senate: Conferees appointed by Senate
02/17/09 Senate: Senators: Northam, Locke, Quayle
The
Senate vote to agree to a conference committee:
YEAS--Barker, Blevins, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards,
Hanger, Herring, Houck,
Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B.,
Newman, Norment, Northam, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Reynolds,
Saslaw, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins,
Whipple--33.
NAYS--Cuccinelli, Hurt, Martin, McDougle,
Obenshain, Ruff, Smith--7.
Monday,
February 16th -- According to The Washington Post, Governor Timothy
Kaine and Speaker of the House William Howell met on Friday 13th to
discuss resurrecting the no-smoking in restaurants and bars
legislation.
Feb. 16 after noon -- floor of the Senate -- Senator Northam noted that
his bill SB 1105 had been transformed into the "compromise" bill by the
full House as the substitute bill. Then numerous amendments were
tacked onto it changing it drastically. Sen. Northam asked the
Senate to separate the substitute bill from the House amendments,
because he wanted the Senate to accept the House substitute and then he
would have it worked on, and to kill the House amendments. They
did so. The bill goes to the House to consider the Senate's
actions, and may end up in conference committee. Meantime, HB 1703
which mirrors this thanks to House action is in the Local Government
committee in the Senate. Senator Northam has another bill, SB 1106.
The Senate accepted the House substitute to SB 1105 voting 29-9, 2 not
voting:
YEAS--Barker,
Blevins, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas,
Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam,
Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart,
Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler, Whipple--29.
NAYS--Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Ruff, Smith--9.
NOT
VOTING--Saslaw, Watkins--2
The Senate rejected the House tobacco amendments, voting 11 to accept
and 29 to reject:
YEAS--Cuccinelli, Hanger,
Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Ruff, Smith, Stosch, Wampler,
Watkins--11.
NAYS--Barker, Blevins,
Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Hurt, Locke, Lucas,
Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam,
Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Saslaw, Stolle, Stuart,
Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Whipple--29.
In the House, on Feb. 16th, Senator Northam's
no-smoking in cars when a
minor is present, was sent to the House Militia, Police, and Public
Safety Committee, and on Feb. 19th a small subcommittee on a voice vote
killed the bill by "leaving it on the table". The subcommittee
members are Cline, Athey, Poindexter, Gilbert, Shuler.
Full committee members are as follows:
Delegates Sherwood (Chairman),
Griffith, Kilgore, Wright, Carrico,
Lingamfelter, Nutter, Athey, Janis,
Cline, Gilbert, Poindexter,
Merricks, Scott, J.M., Barlow, Shuler,
Lewis, Miller, P.J.,
Poisson, Tyler, Bowling, Herring.
Friday,
February 13th --
also Wed. Feb.
11, Thurs. Feb. 12
Virginia
Senate -- SB 1105 the much transformed "deal" bill was passed
by for the day at the full Senate session. Having passed the
Senate in a much different form than
it was on leaving the House, the Senate must now decide what to do
about it.
According to The Bristol Herald
Courier, this so-called compromise bill between the Governor and
the House
Speaker may not have been an actual compromise on the part of Speaker
of the House William Howell:
In a Wednesday
telephone interview, Kilgore claimed Howell’s promise of compromise was
only to get the legislation out of committee, “... there was no
guarantee to get it out of the House. I asked him about adding
amendments and he said that was up to me, if I believed I could get
support to pass them.”
Wednesday,
February 11th --
Virginia
Senate -- SB 1105 the much transformed "deal" bill was passed
by for the day.
Virginia Senate -- HB 1703 having
passed the House, has now been referred to Senate Local Government
Committee.
The excellent comprehensive no-smoking in the workplace bill carried by
Senator Mary Margaret Whipple passed the Senate, and on February 6 the
House General Laws Committee by VOICE vote incorporated it into Senator
Northam's SB 1105, which was then transformed a few days later into a
tobacco bill to match the HB 1703 substitute.
Tuesday,
February 10th -- Virginia Senate
Passed Senator Northam's SB 1106 (substitute)
to prohibit anyone
smoking in a car when minors are present, $100 civil penalty.
Vote: 30-10; brief article on it.
YEAS--Barker, Blevins, Colgan,
Deeds,
Edwards, Hanger, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin,
Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam, Petersen, Puckett,
Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Saslaw, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel,
Watkins, Whipple--30.
NAYS--Cuccinelli,
Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Ruff, Smith, Wagner,
Wampler--10.
This bill, SB 1106, as of February
13th, has not passed the first reading in the House of Delegates, after
which it would normally be assigned to a committee.
Tuesday, February 10th --
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House
of Delegates has passed HB 1703, the compromise bill carried by John
Cosgrove who has consistently voted to kill all no-smoking bills in the
last three years.
This bill was transformed from a compromise developed by Governor Kaine
and Speaker William Howell into a tobacco bill. The vote on
Tuesday
afternoon is 61-37, many voting
in the hope that it may be resurrected as a bill to address the health
and safety and welfare issues of allowing smoking in restaurants and
bars where people work and eat and dare to breathe.
Delegate Kathy Byron (R)
spoke of government
not taking away freedoms from businesses to make their own decisions,
that government should not "send
a message to folks that those freedoms should be decided on by the
government." Her
statement followed passage of a bill she had spoken in favor of which
would require government to make a medical decision for physicians and
women that ultrasounds MUST be taken before any miscarriage or abortion
is performed. Thus, she supports one thing for
restaurants, and another thing for medical establishments.
Using an age old
tobacco executive argument, Byron
said would restaurants refuse to serve more than a certain amount of
food at a buffet, and then say we can't serve you any
more? Byron
of course is forgetting that breathing is necessary to life -- smoking
is not, and places that allow smoke are FORCING people to breathe in
the smoke and all its cancer and heart stopping toxins. No one is
force feeding anyone at a restaurant or workplace.
Delegate Algie Howell (D)
related that as a
child and needing a job to earn money, he had worked in a
barbershop. The barber was a chain smoker, and the barbershop was filled with smoke
all the time. Then Howell married a woman to whom he is still
happily married, and she was a smoker. Their child developed asthma from being
around the smoke and he, Delegate Howell, developed asthma from
being around the smoke there and in the barbershop as he was growing
up, and his wife is 24/7 confined to the house on oxygen. So he
said, "For the benefit of all the
children born, and those who will be born, I urge you to pass this
bill."
The full House floor vote on HB 1703, February 10, 2009:
YEAS--Albo,
Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Bell,
Bouchard, Bowling, Brink, Bulova, Caputo, Carrico, Cosgrove, Cox,
Crockett-Stark, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Englin, Hamilton, Herring,
Howell, A.T., Hull, Iaquinto, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Knight, Landes,
Lingamfelter, Marsden, Marshall, R.G., Mathieson, May, McClellan,
McQuinn, Melvin, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Morgan, Morrissey,
Nichols,
Oder, Orrock, Phillips, Plum, Purkey, Rust, Scott, J.M., Shannon,
Sickles, Spruill, Tata, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward,
Watts, Mr. Speaker--61.
NAYS--Abbitt, Athey, Byron, Cline, Cole, Fralin, Frederick,
Gear,
Gilbert, Griffith, Hall, Hargrove, Hogan, Hugo, Ingram, Janis, Kilgore,
Lewis, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Massie, Merricks, Nixon, Nutter,
O'Bannon, Peace, Pogge, Poindexter, Pollard, Putney, Saxman,
Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Shuler, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Wright--37.
NOT VOTING--Lohr, Poisson--2.
Monday, February 9th -- Virginia House
of Delegates
The Virginia
House of Delegates has now united the House bill HB 1703 and the Senate
bill SB 1105 into one tobacco bill which bears no resemblance to their
origins, nor to the compromise bill proposed by Governor Kaine and
Speaker of the House Howell. While the present Virginia law does
NOT
require smoking areas, but allows any business to be totally
no-smoking, this current legislation DOES REQUIRE smoking areas, see
below. The House bill will have the third and final reading and
vote on Tuesday February 10th.
Here's what happened on February
9th:
At 10 am Speaker
Howell announced that SB 1105 would be considered after the House bills
are finished.
At 5:15 pm, the
House passed a MUCH changed bill HB 1703 voting 61-38. Numerous
floor amendments were added which turn this
into a total tobacco bill. Obviously, the "smoking shall be
permitted" instead of "may" be permitted, was an intentional item, and
has been used now to add amendments
which would force even smoke-free restaurants to allow smoking when
minors are not present or not allowed, when a private function, such as
a wedding, hires the entire restaurant, and would not apply to any
restaurant (bar) with fewer than 75 seats, would not take effect until
January 2010, and reduced the separately ventilated smoking section to
an enclosed room with a door.
The present law does NOT require any smoking
areas, and present law, passed in 1990, requires any restaurant with 50
seats or more
either to be
no-smoking or at least to have a no-smoking area sufficient to meet
customer demand.
Delegate David Englin (D) asked his colleagues to pass the bill even
though it has been gutted because he hopes that the
Governor and Speaker can revisit their compromise and come out with a
good bill.
Delegate John Cosgrove (R) whose bill it is said it
was time that this bill had an up or down vote -- this from a man who
has been part of the six member subcommittee that killed all no-smoking
bills from both the House and the Senate over the last three
years.
Delegate Robert Hull (D) reminded them that secondhand
smoke does not just hurt minors, it hurts everyone; and that a separate
room with a door does not prevent the secondhand smoke from circulating
into the main areas.
Delegate
Riley Ingram (R) spoke about how government has no right to tell a
business what to do, although he voted to tell smoke-free restaurants
they must now allow smoking.
After 8pm, SB 1105 was transformed into the same as the passed house
bill. The House bill now goes to the Senate for
consideration.
It is now up to the Senate to either kill the bill or turn it into a
health bill, and if it passes, it is up to the Governor to amend it
into a health bill, and get a vote at the Veto session in April, which
will show the voters where everyone stands on the issue of no-smoking
in restaurants, and not on the farce played out in the House on Feb.
9th.
Monday, Feb. 9, 10:20ish am -- Speaker William Howell arranged that
the SB 1105 (Senate version of the compromise bill) would be heard
following discussion of House bills that same day. The House
agreed 96-0
to this. Thus both the House version and the Senate version were
heard Feb. 9th.
The full House floor vote on the much amended SB 1105, making it
identical to HB 1703, was as follows -- remembering that some people
voted for this terrible bill in the hope that the Senate and/or the
Governor with the Speaker might return it to the original
compromise. Please note that Delegate Gear who offered a
successful amendment to the House bill to exempt restaurants of 75
seats or less and with the Senate bill tried unsuccessfully to reduce
that number to 50, voted against the bill.
YEAS--Albo, Alexander, Amundson,
Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Bell, Bouchard, Bowling, Brink, Bulova,
Caputo, Carrico, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Dance, Ebbin,
Eisenberg, Englin, Hamilton, Herring, Howell, A.T., Hull, Iaquinto,
Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Knight, Landes, Lingamfelter, Marsden,
Marshall, R.G., Mathieson, May, McClellan, Melvin, Miller, J.H.,
Miller, P.J., Morgan, Morrissey, Nichols, Oder, Orrock, Phillips, Plum,
Purkey, Rust, Scott, J.M., Shannon, Sickles, Tata, Toscano, Tyler,
Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward, Watts, Mr. Speaker--59.
NAYS--Abbitt,
Athey, Byron, Cline,
Cole, Fralin, Frederick, Gear, Gilbert, Griffith, Hall, Hargrove,
Hogan, Hugo, Ingram, Janis, Kilgore, Lewis, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall,
D.W., Massie, McQuinn, Merricks, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Peace, Pogge,
Poindexter, Pollard, Putney, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Sherwood, Shuler,
Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Wright--39.
NOT
VOTING--Poisson, Spruill--2.
Previously,
on Feb. 6, the House General Laws had acted on SB 1105,
voting 12-6 (4 not voting) on amending the Senate bill.
Voting for the changed SB 1105: Delegates Jones, Albo, Oder,
Cosgrove, Carrico, Iaquinto, J.H. Miller, Barlow, Ward, Dance,
Eisenberg, Bowling.
Voting against the changed SB 1105: Delegates Gear, E.T. Scott,
Gilbert, Fralin, Abbitt, Phillips.
Not voting: Delegates Wright, Hull, Tyler, Bulova.
Below is the historical report on
HB 1703. This is all now irrelevant as per the actions taken on
February 9th, described at the top of this page.
The original writing of the new bill HB 1703 that passed the House
General
Laws Committee would have REQUIRED smoking areas since it used "shall
permit smoking" instead of "may
permit smoking". The language specific
to restaurants and bars is included in the language of the current law.
The current law is available at this link:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+ful+HB1703H1
The point in question is this part, in
the language passed only by the House General Laws, but to be
considered by the entire House possibly on Monday February 9 --
A. Effective July 1,
2009 [on Friday Feb. 6 changed to October 1, 2009], smoking
shall be prohibited and no person shall smoke in any restaurant in the
Commonwealth or in any restroom within such restaurant, except that
smoking shall be permitted in: ... [outdoor cafes, private function rooms,
etc., see link above for exact wording.]
The legislature has spent hours in the
past on
other bills debating a "may" or a "shall" in a
bill. The current law does NOT mandate smoking areas
anywhere.
Writing
about the deal arranged between Governor Kaine and Speaker Howell, The
Virginian Pilot, Editorial, February 6, 2009,
noted:
Cynics
explain the turnaround by
pointing out this is an election year, and there's no doubt that public
demand for clean air has changed hearts and votes this winter.
However, it is
also true that
political suspicions could easily have destroyed all hope of progress.
Gov. Kaine and Speaker Howell deserve credit for setting their fears
and rivalries aside and working together. Norfolk Sen. Ralph Northam,
sponsor of the smoking ban bill, also merits a cheer for his months of
hard work and his passion for good health.
And special
recognition goes to Del.
Chris Jones, the rock-steady, unflappable Suffolk Republican who helped
forge this week's deal after assuming chairmanship of the committee
that has historically killed smoking restrictions. Never a
self-promoter, Jones didn't make splashy, headline-seeking promises. He
worked quietly behind the scenes to build consensus and trust. That's a
strategy that has served him, and all Virginians, well.
Earlier, it was reported that the House
General Laws Committee would at the last moment in this half of the
session consider the eight House no-smoking bills.
After a two hour hearing on the bill, on the evening of February 5th,
and after the news conference held by the Governor and Speaker, the
House General Laws passed HB 1703 with a
substitute, 16-6.
Voting for -- Jones, Albo,
Oder, Cosgrove, Carrico, Iaquinto, J.S. Miller, Phillips, Barlow, Hull,
Ward, Dance, Tyler, Bulova, Eisenberg, Bowling.
Voting against -- Wright,
Gear, E.T. Scott, Gilbert, Fralin, Abbitt.
Then on Friday, February 6th, the same General Laws Committee voted 9-4
(vote not yet online) to change the effective date from July 1, 2009 to
October 1, 2009.
The
full Senate has passed four Senate no-smoking bills. With the
February 5th compromise between the governor and the speaker, it
remains to be seen whether bills such as those carried by Senator
Whipple and Senator Lucas will be allowed to pass. The Lucas bill
would allow localities to pass stronger no-smoking laws that what the
state has, and the Whipple bill would make most workplaces no-smoking
workplaces.
Passed by the full Senate and sent to the House:
SB
870 (Lucas), 1002 (Quayle), 1057 (Whipple), and 1105 (Northam, which
incorporates 1105 and Saslaw's 1160) have
passed the full Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd. The Senate floor
vote, and the
Senate
Education and Health Committee votes are given further down this
page.
Senator Northam's no smoking in cars when minor is present (1106), and
Senator Stolle's bill (1382) are still in committee.
After February 10th the Senate bills
will be considered by the House.
The
House still has not heard the eight House no-smoking bills. In past
years, the six members of the Gaming subcommittee of General Laws have
killed all no-smoking bills. The new committee chairman, S. Chris
Jones, has promised a full and fair hearing.
The Senate vote on these bills is as follows:
February 3, 2009, Senate floor vote (this means the full Virginia
Senate):
Senator
Lucas SB 870 23-16, 1 not voting
Voting
YES: Senators Barker,
Blevins, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke,
Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen,
Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Saslaw, Ticer, Vogel, Whipple.
Voting NO: Senators Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Norment, Obenshain,
Reynolds, Ruff, Smith, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins.
Not
Voting: Senator Newman.
Senator Quayle SB 1002 30-10
Voting
YES: Senators Barker,
Blevins, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke,
Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam,
Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Saslaw, Stolle, Stosch,
Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Wampler, Watkins, Whipple.
Voting NO: Senators Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Ruff, Smith, Wagner.
Senator Whipple SB 1057 24-15, 1
not voting
Voting
YES: Senators Barker,
Blevins, Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke,
Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen,
Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Saslaw, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Whipple.
Voting NO: Senators Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Norment, Obenshain, Reynolds, Ruff,
Smith, Stolle, Stosch, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins.
Not Voting: Senator Newman.
Senator Northam SB 1105 (and
incorporates Senator Saslaw SB 1160)
Voting
YES: Senators Barker,
Blevins, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas,
Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam,
Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Saslaw, Stolle, Stuart, Ticer,
Vogel, Wagner, Whipple.
Voting NO: Senators Cuccinelli,
Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Reynolds, Ruff,
Smith, Stosch, Wampler, Watkins.
Not Voting: Senator Colgan.
SENATE
VOTE on Senate no-smoking bills
The
full Senate Education and Health Committee voted 11-3 to send the bills
to the full Senate:
VOTING
FOR: Senators Houck, Saslaw, Lucas, Howell,
Quayle, Edwards, Whipple, Blevins, Locke,
Northam, J.C. Miller. Senator Barker was not present.
VOTING
AGAINST these no-smoking
bills: Senators Martin, Newman, Ruff.
Senator
Stolle's SB 1382 which has several exceptions to no-smoking
areas was not taken up by the committee, and will be worked on.
See media story at this link.
Senate Bill 1106, Senator Northam, no-smoking
in
cars
when minor is present, is on the
February 5 docket of Senate Courts of Justice Committee, having been
passed from the Criminal subcommittee.
This bill was first
assigned to Transportation, then to Courts of Justice, Criminal
subcommittee, which has reported it
to the full Courts of Justice Committee with an amendment. The
text of the amendment is not yet available to the public. The
subcommittee
asked that the bill be placed into the 18.2 section of the State Code
dealing with minors not allowed to possess or use tobacco
products. This of course is not the point of the bill, which is
like those passed in other states in order to protect babies, children,
and teenagers from secondhand smoke while in the small confines of a
vehicle.
The substitute language was later established and passed. Below
are the votes, and this link gives the text of the
substitute.
The no-smoking
in cars when minor is
present bill was passed by the committee:
02/04/09 Senate: Reported from
Courts of Justice with substitute (7-Y 4-N)
YEAS--Marsh,
Quayle, Lucas, Edwards, Reynolds, Puller, Deeds--7.
NAYS--Cuccinelli,
Obenshain, McDougle, Hurt--4.
The bill passed the Senate, February 10, 2009, 30-10.
02/10/09 Senate: Read third time
and passed Senate (30-Y 10-N)
YEAS--Barker,
Blevins, Colgan, Deeds,
Edwards, Hanger, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin,
Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Norment, Northam, Petersen, Puckett,
Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Saslaw, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel,
Watkins, Whipple--30.
NAYS--Cuccinelli,
Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Obenshain, Ruff, Smith, Wagner,
Wampler--10.
Special
LINKS:
![[Virginia GASP]](iconvag.GIF)
2009 Legislative Actions --
Virginia
Clean Indoor Air