|
Updated: 11:00 PM Feb 15, 2010
Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Ban Smoking at State Capitol
Smoking is banned in most places in Kanawha County but not at the state Capitol building in Charleston. Now some lawmakers want to keep people from lighting up while inside.
Posted: 10:56 PM Feb 15, 2010Reporter: Kallie Cart Email Address: kallie.cart@wsaz.com |
|
44 Comments 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Smoking is banned in most places in Kanawha County but not at the state Capitol building in Charleston. Now some lawmakers want to keep people from lighting up while inside.
Delegates Nancy Peoples Guthrie, Bonnie Brown and Barbara Hatfield, all Democrats from Kanawha County, sponsored a bill that will ban smoking within the Capitol building.
"I think the public perception is that somehow the Legislature is above the law," Delegate Brown says. "I don't want that to even be considered, because we are not above the law."
It has long been a complaint from smokers and bar owners that they're forced to stop, but the Legislature is allowed to continue to smoke indoors.
"This is a situation of, what's good for the goose is good for the gander," Guthrie said.
The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department passed the Clean Indoor Air act in 2008, making it illegal to smoke in most places including hotels, bars and casinos. But the Capitol building is controlled by the state and exempt from the county smoking ban.
Smoking is discouraged in the building and there are "No Smoking" signs, but delegates and senators say it still happens. Some lawmakers smoke on their balconies outside their offices. Brown says this session she smelled smoke and found another delegate smoking inside his office.
"(It's) setting a really bad example for one thing when your lawmakers are saying that they do not have to abide by that," Brenda Isaac, president of the Kanawha Charleston Health Board said.
The board issued a censure earlier this month against the Legislature for allowing smoking, but it doesn't carry any legal power.
The bill, introduced Monday, would make it illegal to smoke within the building.
"This will make it solid, it will be very clear, the statehouse is no different than anywhere else," Brown said.
The bill was referred to a committee. It is now up to lawmakers to pass the bill to issue the ban against themselves.
Latest Comments
It just doesn't make any sense to allow an indoor smoking ban to be created and enforced on a county level but not on the state level.POLITICIANS are elected officials not GODS and so the rules that they helped to create should apply to them as well! In my opinion all politicians need to drop their (DO AS WE SAY NOT AS WE DO) attitude and let their good ol' boys membership expire as well and who knows that alone may help the spotlight start shining on west virginia for good reasons instead of just making it seem like we are all dumb hillbillies.
"But the Capitol building is controlled by the state and exempt from the county smoking ban." With that logic, then state employees who work on State property should not have to follow City of Charleston laws and pay the city user fee.
Instead of creating these no-smoking rules, they need to concentrate on all of the chemical plant leaks as of late. You can choose to enter a bar, but everyone has to go outside and breathe.
|
|
|
Popular Searches Powered by Local.com |
- UPDATE: Two More Arrests in Parking Lot Armed Robbery
- Three Aging W.Va. Power Plants Closing
- IRS Warns to Expect Some Refund Delays
- NASCAR Racer Visits Charleston
- Business Destroyed by Fire in Logan County
- UPDATE: Man Charged in Violent Armed Robbery at Huntington Bar
- St. Albans Man Arrested in Large Drug Bust
- Convicted Sex Offender Wanted
- Metheny Still Missing
- Residents Hopeful Dunbar Police Will Move to New Neighborhood
- UPDATE: Vigil for Missing 3-Year-Old Girl
430 Comments - UPDATE: New Chief Deputy in Mason County Releases Department Mission Statement
148 Comments - UPDATE: Mother Awaiting Sentence Faces More Trouble
61 Comments - UPDATE: Some Questions Remain Unanswered in Deadly CO Leak
48 Comments - UPDATE: Man Accused of Victimizing Elderly Found Guilty of Kidnapping; Victim Dies
40 Comments - UPDATE: Two More Arrests in Parking Lot Armed Robbery
24 Comments
- Same-sex marriage OK'd in Washington
- 10 states freed from 'No Child Left Behind'
- Embattled LA school reopens
- Mississippi pardons to be challenged at court hearing
- Authorites probe 911 response to Josh Powell's home
- Hotel workers in New York to get panic button
- Resolution to N. Dakota school nickname dispute still seems far off
- The deadly path to legal status
- Birth control by vending machine
- Sound recordings amend history
- Video of Chinese toddler sobbing in snow sparks outrage
- Challenger to Chavez showing strength in Venezuela
- Spy agency called before Pakistani high court
- Court suspends Spain's most famous judge
- Deposed president faces arrest in the Maldives
- Greek leaders ready to back austerity deal
- More than 700 suffer food poisoning after Mexico rally
- Asylum or 'medical leave' for Chinese crime buster?
- UK: 'No negotiations' on Falklands
- Freeze strains Ukrainian EMS
- Band camp, other clubs suspended
- Champion remembered at event
- More members accused of hazing
- Sandusky urged to stay inside
- Words matter in Penn State case
- Out-of-county jury for Sandusky?
- 4th accuser drops abuse allegations
- Accuser pleads guilty to child sex
- Attorney: Victims to sue university
- Miss. high court considers pardons
- Live Blog: Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach Pro-AM
- Pebble Beach Pro-Am Round 1 scores
- Don Banks: Biggest offseason questions in the NFL
- Seth Davis: Eustachy's second chance could lead Southern Miss to NCAAs
- Rivers, Duke sink Tar Heels at buzzer
- Leafs, Wings set for '13 Winter Classic
- Report: Manning still unable to make most throws
- Syracuse earns OT win vs. Hoyas
- Memphis joining Big East in 2013
- Lin dazzles again as Knicks win
 |
SOMC
Very good things are happening here. Click here to learn more |
 |
Click here for school closings and delays |
 |
Watch the Lottery Live Monday - Saturday @ 6:59pm on WSAZ NewsChannel 3. Need to check your numbers? Click here. |
 |
Watch the Ohio Lottery Drawings weeknights @ 7:29pm and Cash Explosion Saturday @ 7:30pm on WSAZ NewsChannel 3. |
 |
Click here to donate and help WSAZ help children at risk in our region. Thank you. |
 |
Click here to see how our partners are making Moms and women's lives easier. |
