The Virginia Senate killed a bill yesterday that would have prohibited smoking in virtually all indoor areas, including restaurants, after a spirited debate about public health and consumer choice.
The bill, SB 1191, which had passed out of committee by one vote, was defeated in the full Senate by a vote of 26 to 14.
(Photos Steve Helber -- AP)
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Sen. William C. Mims (R-Loudoun) said his bill should pass because more than 2,000 people die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke in Virginia. Gesturing at the tobacco leaves engraved in the chamber's ceiling, he urged the bill's passage.
"Look up at the ceiling," he told his colleagues. "Those are tobacco leaves. And when we vote, the ceiling is not going to fall. The sky is not going to crash down."
Sen. Charles R. Hawkins (R-Pittsylvania), who represents tobacco growers, said the issue should be left to the business and restaurant owners to decide.
"That's where this decision needs to be made, in the marketplace, not on the floor of the legislature," he said. "I ask that we kill this bill."
Election for Bland's Seat
House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) said yesterday that a special election will be held March 22 in Chesterfield and Petersburg to fill the seat held by former delegate Fenton L. Bland Jr. (D-Petersburg).
Bland resigned Jan. 26 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a scheme that involved a handful of forged real estate deeds and $460,000 in business loans obtained under false pretenses. He faces as much as three years in prison, according to federal guidelines, when he is sentenced in April.
The special election will fill the seat until November, when there will be an election for a full two-year term.
Youths and Alcohol
The House passed a bill yesterday that would crack down on adults who knowingly provide alcohol to those younger than 21.
House Bill 2791, sponsored by Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax) would punish such offenses by suspending for one year the driver's licenses of adults who buy or give alcohol to those who are not old enough to drink. The bill keeps the current provision that those found guilty of the Class 1 misdemeanor can be fined $500.
Bills on Zoning Passed
Both chambers of the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation yesterday that would temporarily suspend the zoning processes that Arlington County, Alexandria and Falls Church use to get developers to provide affordable housing units.
The three governments use guidelines that allow them to seek a share of affordable units from builders who want to erect a larger development on property that is zoned for a much smaller project.
The bills follow an Arlington Circuit Court ruling in December that stated that the requests the county made for affordable housing were in fact requirements and that the county had exceeded its authority. Arlington County is considering an appeal of the ruling.
Supporters of the measures said that they wanted the bills to serve as a moratorium on the practice while a state panel studies the issue.
Officials for Arlington and Alexandria said the bill would adversely affect construction of affordable units over the next 18 months.
Marriage Amendment
The House passed a resolution yesterday favoring a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. The vote follows action in the state Senate, which on Monday approved identical legislation.
Supporters of the amendment said that it is essential to codify that marriage is a union between one woman and one man. Several said that marriage is "under attack" and that such an amendment would ensure that the state was not vulnerable to court rulings similar to the one in Massachusetts in 2003 that said gays had the right to marry.
Opponents said the state was in danger of repeating the mistakes of its past, citing its history as a slave-trading state and its past support for racial segregation.
To change the state Constitution, an amendment must be approved by two legislative sessions, with an intervening election, before being put before voters in a referendum. The earliest a marriage amendment referendum could be scheduled is November 2006.
