March 2007
Kane proposes smoking ban
According to NBC4.com (”Kaine: Smoking Ban Would Protect Restaurant Workers“, 03/29/07), Governor Kaine has proposed a comprehensive smoking ban that would apply to all restaurants in Virgina. His reasoning is for worker health: “For a lot of employees, it’s not necessarily easy for them to pick up and get another job.” Kane reportedly based his decision on a conversation with a Richmond restaurant owner who told him he wanted to go smoke-free for his employees’ benefit but feared he would lose business to his competitors.
Kane’s proposal marks a turnaround in his rhetoric. He has previously stated that, although he believes smoking is dangerously unhealthy, it was not in the government’s place to enact a ban.
The ban covers virtually any area where food is served. Kaine has convinced himself that his proposed ban would be limited to restaurants only, yet I myself am hard-pressed to recall a bar, wedding, or festival that doesn’t serve food. The Washington Post (”Kaine’s Restaurant Plan Called Too Broad“, 03/30/07) highlights the claims from opponents of this measure, which they assert is so broad that it goes so far as to ban smoking at catered weddings and hot dog vendors. This so-called limited ban is actually so comprehensive that it will envelop dozens of different kinds of establishments beside restaurants — from weddings and hot dog vendors to bars and street festivals. Kaine’s failure to consider the repercussions of his proposal reveals the depravity of this motion.