Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993 TAG: 9302180185
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
PANEL PASSES SMOKERS' BILL
Employers could not base hiring and firing decisions solely on whether a person smokes on his own time if a bill approved Wednesday by a House of Delegates committee becomes law.The Labor and Commerce Committee voted 11-6 to send Sen. Virgil Goode's "smokers' rights" bill to the House floor.
Anthony Troy, a lobbyist for the tobacco industry, said the vote was "about what I expected" but he refused to predict how the bill would do on the House floor. "One day at a time," he said.
Goode, D-Rocky Mount, said the bill is a simple matter of fairness. He said if a person wants to smoke away from the workplace, he should be allowed to do so without fear of being fired or turned down for a job.
Critics of the proposal said it would elevate smoking to the level of a constitutionally protected civil right and invite lawsuits.
"This intrudes into the rights of employers," said Del. Bernard Cohen, D-Alexandria. "It would be the first time in Virginia history, other than in cases involving civil rights, that we have told employers who they can and cannot hire."
Carl Booberg, executive director of the American Lung Association of Virginia, agreed. "This could be renamed the Nicotine Addiction Protection Act," he said.
Goode emphasized that his bill does not prohibit employers from banning smoking on the job.
However, Booberg said it is unrealistic to think a smoker would indulge at home but not at work. He said he once hired a smoker who quit after three days because she could not cope with the office's no-smoking policy.
"The truth is, few smokers smoke just at home," he said.
In other legislative action:
The House of Delegates approved a bill giving local governments the option of licensing cats, at a cost of up to $10 for each feline.
A Senate committee endorsed a bill that would require future General Assembly sessions to provide additional money for prison cells whenever they pass bills increasing prison terms.
A Senate committee endorsed a bill to require that lobbyists account for their spending to influence legislation year-round. They now need report only their spending for about five months - from Nov. 15 until 60 days after adjournment of the legislature.
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