House backs smoke-free bills

AUGUSTA – Bars and beano halls are among the last refuges for social smokers in the state but even those limited options are on the verge of being snuffed out by Maine lawmakers.

Late Thursday morning, the Maine House gave preliminary approval to LD 227, a bill banning smoking in beano, or bingo, halls and then went on to debate LD 55, a measure prohibiting foster parents from smoking in their homes or motor vehicles while a foster child is present.

As early as next week, the House could take up LD 1346, a bill that would prohibit smoking in bars and eliminate designated smoking areas in public areas. The proposal already has received a 12-1 ought-to-pass recommendation from the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, which created an exemption in the legislation for off-track betting parlors.

Since 1981, Maine has taken a series of progressive steps to restrict and prohibit smoking starting with a ban on smoking in public buildings that eventually was extended to all Class A restaurants in 1999. Smokers still may socialize publicly in bars, pool halls and off-track betting parlors, but many lawmakers believe such exceptions reflect a double standard and send the wrong message on state health policy.

The beano bill’s opponents lodged a dual-pronged attack on the measure, which received a 10-3 affirmative endorsement from the Health and Human Services Committee. Infringement on personal freedoms and adverse economic impacts to businesses – the same arguments cited in 1999 by those who favored smoking in restaurants – were persistent criticisms voiced by lawmakers who tried unsuccessfully to derail the bill. Rep. James J. Campbell, R-Newfield, turned to the bill’s supporters and warned the legislators to think twice before voting against a measure that would further dilute the stream of revenue received by the state.

“A lot of people seem to want to stop smoking and they’re upset when some of their pet projects are taken out by the governor in his budget,” Campbell said. “These projects are funded by tobacco money. We should just ban cigarettes in the state of Maine like we did with alcohol years ago. Nobody [could] smoke in the state of Maine and nobody [could] sell cigarettes in the state of Maine and then what would the budget look like without the tobacco money.”

Although it is a significant revenue producer, smoking also carries huge health care costs in terms of smoking-related illnesses, according to the bill’s supporters. Rep. Thomas J. Kane, D-Saco and House chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee, said recent information received by his panel clearly upheld proponents’ assertions that a ban in bingo halls actually could improve attendance. He said the experiences recounted by restaurateurs who now must maintain smoke-free businesses was convincing.

“The positive impact of the ban – not only on the health of customers and staff, but on the quality of the restaurant environment had significantly increased business and profits,” he said.

However, a similar outcome is not evident for the high-stakes beano games held on Indian Island by the Penobscot Indian Nation, according to Tribal Rep. Donna Loring of Richmond. Loring objected to the bill’s inclusion of those tribal activities, which she said in no way resembled the average nonprofit bingo games run by service or religious organizations.

“The Penobscot Nation pays the state a fee of $50,000 a year so we can operate at a high-stakes level,” she said. “We compete with other high-stakes bingo locations … where customers are allowed to smoke. …We purchase 600 to 700 hotel rooms in the bingo area, including Orono, Old Town, Bangor and Brewer. We estimate that approximately 75 percent of [our customers] smoke. If these customers were not allowed to smoke, they would certainly choose to play high-stakes bingo elsewhere and we [would] lose the cash infusion to our tribal economy as well as the local economy.”

But Rep. John L. Patrick, D-Rumford, insisted attendance at beano games run by his fraternal organization declined because of smoking and that players actually thanked him later for running games in locations where smoking was prohibited. After a motion to kill the bill failed 78-61, the measure was given initial approval without further debate and now faces additional votes in the House and Senate.

Foster parents would have to curb their smoking habits under LD 55, which won preliminary approval Thursday. The bill would phase in a prohibition on foster parents smoking in their homes and in their cars while a foster child is present in the vehicle. The measure also requires the Department of Human Services to report the number of foster parents who smoke and the number who are interested in assistance in overcoming their addiction to tobacco.

Opponents complained the measure singled out foster parents and that the bill should apply to all parents if lawmakers were really serious about improving the quality of health for Maine’s children. Others insisted the new restrictions would only further exacerbate the problem of retaining existing foster parents and could prove difficult to enforce. Still others fell back on the “smokers’ rights” argument.

“Foster parents rarely get a break and this [bill] would mean that they would have to give up their very right to smoke – all the time,” said Rep. Lois Snowe-Mello, R-Poland Spring.

Proponents, such as Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, suggested the bill’s critics were missing the point of the legislation which he said, came down to a matter of common sense.

“When these foster parents apply to get the money that they get on the state’s dime to be foster parents, the state will say: ‘Hey, you’ll have to step outside to have your smoke'” Faircloth said. “And you know what these people will do – because they’re good, decent people – they’ll say ‘sure.’ Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Ultimately, lawmakers voted 128-12 for an amended version of the bill proposed by Rep. David Trahan, R-Waldoboro. The revised measure seeks the same goals set out under the original legislation, but gives the Department of Human Services broader flexibility in establishing guidelines within the home to allow foster parents a “safe area” in which to smoke. That bill also faces additional votes in the House and Senate.