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Home > What's New > Louisville in Smoking Battle
Louisville in Smoking Battle
Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2003
By Michael S. Marsh What's the best way to beat a citywide smoking ban? How about by sponsoring a smoking ban ordinance? Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but the plan just might work in Louisville, Kentucky, the latest metropolitan area facing anti-smoking legislation.
It goes like this. On September 8, Councilman Doug Hawkins, a democrat from the 25th district of Louisville, submitted an ordinance to the city council proposing a strict smoking ban that would prevent lighting up in all offices, restaurants and bars, and would also prohibit smoking within 25 feet of public buildings. Fines could go as high as $500, and violators charged with a class A misdemeanor.
Today that proposal will be read by the city council, which will then decide whether to nix the bill or send it on to a committee, where it will be reviewed further.
But here's the twist. Councilman Hawkins is a staunch opponent of any and all anti-smoking legislation in the city of Louisville, and the state of Kentucky. Hawkins, however, believes he can squash a smoking ban by forcing the city council to vote on it immediately -- in its unchanged, draconian form -- before the ban can gain support. In Louisville, once a bill is introduced and defeated, it cannot be reintroduced for at least two years.
Hawkins didn't actually draft the smoking ban ordinance. He's only sponsoring it. It was the Jefferson County Smoke Free Coalition, the major backer for a smoke-free Louisville, that conceived and wrote the anti-smoking legislation and proposed it to the city council. Since its proposal in early August, the Coalition has failed to find any council members to sponsor the smoking ban. Mayor Jerry Abramson has also balked.
According to Hawkins, the lack of support stems from concerns about the economic impact a smoking ban could have on the city. Initially, the mayor asked the Louisville Board of Health to conduct a review of not only the economic impacts of such a ban, but also the health impacts.
There was one major problem, however. The Louisville Board of Health is funding the Smoke Free Coalition, and this year has given $88,000 -- tobacco settlement money -- for the group's education campaign. Almost immediately, smoking ban opponents were critical, saying the Board of Health could not conduct an unbiased review.
Answering the criticism, Mayor Abramson stepped in on August 27, and asked the Louisville chamber of commerce to analyze the economic impact of a ban. The review has yet to be completed, which has kept the mayor and council members from supporting a ban. It has also given Hawkins the opportunity to go ahead with his plan to sponsor the ban in hopes that it gets voted down.
"I've been questioning what the Coalition has been doing," he said in a phone interview. "First of all, government money should not be being used to lobby it's own government. That is ridiculous. Second, banning smoking is a government intrusion, and that I'm not comfortable with. And I'm not even a smoker."
Hawkins said that he's determined to save the taxpayer's dollars from being spent on public hearings. The Board of Health currently has hearings scheduled for September 18, 22, 23 and 29. These hearings are open to the public, and are designed to provide information about what a smoking law would mean to the city of Louisville. Also in Cigar News:
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