2012.02.13
Va. Senate OKs curbing smoking on public property
RICHMOND – Lighting up on school property and in state government buildings, including the legislative office building at the capital, would be unlawful under legislation advanced by the Virginia Senate on Monday.
Bills to prohibit smoking at such sites are the brainchild of Democratic Sen. Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist from Norfolk.
His SB 467 would extend the existing ban on smoking inside schools to cover outdoor school property such as athletic fields so impressionable youngsters aren’t exposed to the sight of teachers and coaches smoking on school grounds. It was endorsed on a 32-8 vote in the Senate.
Northam said his other anti-smoking bill, SB 486, would extend to legislative and judicial government buildings an indoor smoking ban that already applies to some state facilities. It would apply to the legislative office tower in Richmond where some officials still smoke.
The measure, which would also allow localities to ban smoking in their public buildings, passed by a 29-11 margin.
Both Northam proposals seem unlikely to gain traction in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates where similar measures have already been snuffed out this year.
-Julian Walker, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot
