It's been a long time coming for some state senators and Nebraska residents, but the Legislature on Friday gave its blessing to a statewide smoking ban. The ban, nearly identical to Lincoln's three-year-old ban, will go into
JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, February 21, 2008 6:00 pm
It’s been a long time coming for some state senators and Nebraska residents, but the Legislature on Friday gave its blessing to a statewide smoking ban.
The ban, nearly identical to Lincoln’s three-year-old ban, will go into effect June 1, 2009, if Gov. Dave Heineman signs it within five days.
Heineman said he will review the bill and decide within that time period. The question, he said, is whether the public health issue overrides business concerns about government interfering in people’s lives.
Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney, who has worked on passing the bill for two years, said the stage was set by many before him, including former Sen. Nancy Thompson of Papillion.
The bill (LB395) last year had been amended to allow communities to opt out of the ban, but Johnson said he decided before the end of the session he could not live with the amendment. He said he told then-Sen. Mick Mines of Blair, who opposed an all-inclusive ban, about his change of heart and gave him time to react with a kill motion.
Earlier this month, Johnson was successful in taking the bill back to its original form. Many communities and businesses that contacted him said if the state was to have a ban, it should include all communities.
“They saw the folly of all of the opt-out provisions,” Johnson said.
In the end, 14 senators continued to oppose the ban, some of them staging a filibuster for about an hour and a half.
Sen. Norm Wallman of Cortland said communities and businesses would have gradually become smoke-free on their own without the Legislature forcing them. The bill has a lot of problems, he said, including enforcement issues.
“Are we about freedom, or are we about bullying people to do what we want them to do?” he said.
Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard likened LB395 to a vision on the wall, like the Wizard of Oz, that looked great, but when the curtain was pulled back, there was Johnson with a different bill than had been agreed upon.
Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber said the ban would put people out of business, especially in rural Nebraska, where communities can’t afford to lose businesses.
One of those is Rj’s in DeWitt, near Karpisek’s hometown.
Guy Mentel, a co-owner of the bar and restaurant — one that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner — said the ban will hurt business.
“People will start staying at home where they can do what they want to do,” he said.
Smoking is just a way of life for some people, he said.
Lincoln’s ban has been in effect since Jan. 1, 2005. And while the ban seemed to hurt some bars in the beginning — because smokers could find places to go in other communities — Lincoln bars seemed to rebound.
The latest report on keno money earned in the state and its cities — one indicator of the effect of the Lincoln smoking ban — showed that revenue went up about $1 million in Lincoln in the fourth quarter last year, compared with the previous quarter and to the same quarter in 2006.
The $5.8 million in Lincoln keno proceeds last quarter was the highest since the first quarter of 2004 — a year before the ban — when proceeds were $6.2 million.
Bill Harvey, with Big Red Keno, said Lincoln has about $2.6 million to make up to get to pre-smoking ban annual totals.
Keno receipts had been growing every year until the ban, and in 2005 dropped from $23.1 million the previous year to $18.8 million. Keno proceeds began growing again in 2006 and 2007, and last year were up to $20.5 million.
“We’re gratified about the fact the Legislature passed a statewide smoking ban,” Harvey said. “I think it’s going to be helpful to our business because it puts everybody on a level playing field.”
Someday, he said, business will be back on the upward curve it was on before the smoking ban took effect.
GASP of Nebraska President Mark Welsch has waited 20 years for the state to enact a smoking ban.
“Can you see me jumping up and down? Can you see my big smile,” he said. “I’m so excited.”
During the past 20 years, the state took small steps toward this, with a 1999 ban on smoking in state buildings and vehicles, then a ban for commercial daycare centers and in-home centers when the children were there.
Lincoln’s ban influenced the process positively, Welsch said. And the Nebraska Restaurant Association’s support for the first time helped greatly. And people saw how unfair Omaha’s ban was, allowing some bars to allow smoking and not others, he said.
Seventy percent of Nebraska residents want a smoke-free state, Welsch said.
“Thank God we finally have it.”
Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.