Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100282
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short
SENATE BILL GIVES SMOKERS A BREATHER
Virginia's tobacco lobby, which has watched its political turf erode in recent years, reclaimed a bit of ground on Tuesday.The state Senate voted 26-13 for a bill that would stop private companies from firing or refusing to hire workers who smoke off the job. Some companies have taken to barring smokers to avoid higher health insurance costs.
"You don't fire people for doing something legal in the privacy of their own homes," said Anthony F. Troy, a Richmond lawyer who represents the Tobacco Institute.
"It really is an anti-Orwellian, anti-`1984' bill," Troy said.
The proposal moves now to the House, where 65 delegates have signed on as co-sponsors. Twenty-five states have similar laws, Troy said.
The bill would allow employers to offer different health insurance plans to their smoking employees or charge them more for coverage.
Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, denied the measure's success meant a resurgence in the tobacco industry's political influence.
"I think tobacco's always had a big presence in Virginia," he said. "I don't think it's any stronger."
But one of the bill's outspoken opponents, Sen. Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg, whose proposal for a cigarette tax was defeated in the Senate on Monday, disagreed.
"Absolutely they have a lot of pull," he said. "It goes beyond pull. There are some legislators who represent counties in which a lot of tobacco is raised, and they hear from their constituents that they will be ruined" if anti-smoking legislation is passed. "None of which is true. These farmers don't hesitate to lean on their legislators, but the main [lobby] is Philip Morris."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993