Md. Senate Passes State Smoking Ban

Gov. Martin O'Malley has said he will sign a statewide smoking ban, despite concerns about exemptions allowed in the legislation. (By James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)

Maryland lawmakers voted yesterday to ban smoking in bars and restaurants statewide, express "profound regret" for the state's role in the slave trade and deny parole to child rapists in a burst of activity as they confronted a key deadline for moving legislation.

A 33 to 13 vote in the Senate all but ensured that next year Maryland will join at least 18 states and the District, which have similar prohibitions designed to protect workers and patrons from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Lawmakers must reconcile several differences with a bill passed Saturday by the House of Delegates before sending it to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D). The governor has said he will sign a statewide smoking ban, despite concerns about exemptions allowed in the legislation. Both versions of the bill would allow counties to enforce stricter bans if they elected to do so.

The legislation has been opposed by the restaurant industry's lobby, but Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Montgomery), its lead sponsor, called Senate passage "a victory for public health."

The action came on one of the busiest days of the 90-day session, which is scheduled to end in two weeks.

After an impassioned debate, the House voted 81 to 57 for a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at universities and community colleges. Currently, illegal immigrants must pay out-of-state tuition.

The House also gave a unanimous nod to a bill that would move up Maryland's 2008 presidential primary to Feb. 12 from March 4 and passed a measure 78 to 60 that restores the voting rights of some repeat felons.

But another election-related bill, which would authorize paper receipts on election machines and which passed the House last week, stalled in the Senate amid concerns about how to fund it.

The Senate, meanwhile, voted overwhelmingly for legislation that would require health insurers to allow children to stay on their parents' policies to age 25. The House has passed a far more comprehensive bill that would expand access to health care to the uninsured.

The flurry of activity was largely driven by a deadline for bills to clear at least one chamber or face additional procedural hurdles, which probably would result in their demise by the time the session ends April 9.

One of the most emotional issues of the session -- the state's gesture of contrition on slavery -- generated little debate.

The House broke into applause after delegates approved the resolution, 130 to 6. The Senate passed the same measure unanimously this month. Maryland would become the second state -- after Virginia, earlier this year -- to express regret for slavery if one of the two measures is passed by the other body.