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Supporters of a tri-county smoking ban in public places are hoping officials can work out their differences early in 2009 - any longer and the issue could be delayed indefinitely, said Kenton County Commissioner Dan Humpert.
Humpert hopes to put a smoking ban before the fiscal courts as soon as possible before some supporters decide to table the issue. Boone County Judge-Executive Gary Moore said he would support tabling the issue if the debate goes on much longer:
"I believe it's either time to pass something or put it on the shelf for a while because it just seems to be an item that is taking staff time and concentration away from other projects," he said.
Northern Kentucky fiscal courts have been attempting to hammer together a three-county-wide smoking ban since June, but debates over allowing exemptions have dragged discussion on.
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FORT THOMAS -- A proposed smoking ban in three Northern Kentucky counties could go up in smoke as officials haggle over what type of establishments would be exempt from the measure.
Officials in Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties have been working together since June on the proposal. If the differences can't be ironed out soon, some leaders are suggesting the plan be tabled until a comprehensive measure can be put in place.
"I believe it's either time to pass something or put it on the shelf for a while because it just seems to be an item that is taking staff time and concentration away from other projects," said Kenton County Commissioner Dan Humpert.
Cliff Starbird shows off the new outdoor patio he's built at the shop in Derby. In 2009, no smoking is allowed in any business so anyone who wants to light up will have to come into this drafty, cold room to do it.
"Rules are rules. You got to follow them, but I can't understand what the difference is if we're sitting out in the cold smoking or if we are inside smoking."
The difference according to the Derby law makers is outside bar patrons won't have to deal with potentially toxic second hand smoke.
Anyone who wants to quit smoking or chewing tobacco can call the tobacco quit line. It will connect the caller to a counseling center in Mississippi, where professionals will offer support and tips for tobacco cessation.
Dr. William Hacker with the Cabinet for Public Health says this time of year is a popular time to quit, and many Kentuckians will need help.
Gov. Steve Beshear's proposal to raise Kentucky's state tax on tobacco to meet the $456 million state budget shortfall has some smokers feeling unfairly singled out.
Others see the tax as a good way to fill the holes in the state budget.
Many smokers don't like the idea of having to shoulder more of the state's financial problems, but some accept that choosing to smoke carries costs.
Beshear wants to raise the state's cigarette tax by 70 cents a pack and double the tax on other tobacco items. The cigarette tax would go from 30 cents per pack to $1 per pack.
The increased tax would probably cut into the business at Straus Tobacconist in Florence, said Matthew Gallaher, a tobacconist there.
It's ridiculous that two years after Ohio voters approved a smoking ban, enforcement is so spotty that 40 percent of complaints aren't even investigated, as the Enquirer's Sheila McLaughlin reports today (Page A1). At this point, the institutions most penalized by the ban are those that do enforce it, then lose customers to competitors that look the other way.
The ban is a law, not a suggestion, and not open to hand-wringing by business owners or whining by health officials. The state has an obligation to enforce it, end of discussion. That some institutions, like Middletown's Moose Lodge 501, have piled up hundreds of complaints and gotten off with a puny ticket or two is an insult to voters.
Meanwhile, three Northern Kentucky counties have talked the issue to death without taking action. Why not be bold and take a stand for their citizens' health and financial well-being?
Two of the nation's top tobacco-producing states are weighing whether to raise cigarette taxes to plug budget deficits that have sent politicians scavenging for sources of revenue.
The governors of Virginia and Kentucky have each proposed raising their cigarette taxes -- each currently 30 cents per pack -- to help offset revenue shortfalls of $2.9 billion and $456 million, respectively.
Such a move was once unthinkable in Virginia, where Philip Morris runs the world's largest cigarette plant miles from the state Capitol, and ceiling murals in the rotunda include impressions of the golden-brown tobacco leaf.
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the tobacco-producing states aren't at least considering it before long," said Amy Barkley, who directs advocacy efforts in the major tobacco states for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Although the societal costs of smoking are well documented, this isn’t about reforming smokers and legislators should not be derailed by such arguments. It’s about what type of transfusion is needed to shore up the state’s anemic coffers. Raising tobacco taxes — perhaps something less than 70 cents — should be given due consideration as a shot in the arm — not a cure but a part of the emergency treatment for a patient headed for critical condition.
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the tobacco-producing states aren't at least considering it before long," said Amy Barkley, who directs advocacy efforts in the major tobacco states for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. . . .
Lawmakers in the six major tobacco states -- North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia -- have historically been more reluctant than other states to turn to their cash crop for extra revenue.
But since 2002, 44 states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette taxes. Still, while the average tax nationwide is $1.11 per pack, it is 33.5 cents per pack in tobacco states.
"A while ago some people would have said there's no way there's going to be any tobacco tax increase in any of these states, but there has been and it's been because of these dire budget needs," Barkley said.
That doesn't mean the taxes have had an easy time passing.
Virginia has overspent by nearly $3-billion on its current budget. Now, Governor Kaine is trying to overcome that shortfall. Among his proposals Wednesday -- the biggest single increase in the state's cigarette tax, ever.
He's proposed doubling that tax from 30-cents to 60-cents per pack. Not a lot of happy smokers out there, but most say they saw it coming. Smokers -- they're not really that much different than everybody else, are they? After all...
Keara Taylor, Smoker - "It's just a habit!"
So, how do they feel about being picked on in Governor Kaine's latest round of budget corrections?
Grady Jones, Smoker - "It p'd me off, naturally."
Frustrations aside, most smokers around here know the score. Virginians have been growing tobacco since 1612. That's plenty of time to comparison shop, and...
Debora Thomas, Smoker - "Actually, this is the cheapest place I've bought cigarettes in the last ten years."
Metro Louisville's smoking ban was in court again Wednesday.
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There have been three versions of the smoking ban. A Jefferson County Circuit Court judge ruled the second was unconstitutional because it exempted Churchill Downs, and that's why all sides were before a court of appeals panel.
Attorneys for the city said that when the ordinance was struck down, the circuit judge in the case should have only held unconstitutional the portion of the law that exempted Churchill Downs from the smoking ban and that the rest of the ordinance should have stood on its own.
"The ordinance is still in effect to the extent there were citations that were outstanding, not just against the plaintiffs," said Assistant Jefferson County Scott Lilly. "I know the plaintiffs think this is some sort of vendetta against them. It's not; it's the principal that you have to have continuous enforcement with your ordinances."
University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr. on Wednesday offered the strongest pitch from higher education officials for a significant increase in the cigarette tax.
While university presidents, including Todd, have refrained in the past from publicly endorsing tax increases of any sort, Todd said a sharp increase is necessary not only for budget purposes but especially for health benefits.
"I have been willing to come out and support the cigarette tax. I've always wanted to do it for health reasons, now it's tied directly to education," Todd said at the Lexington-Fayette government center during Gov. Steve Beshear's latest public event about his plan to plug a $456.1 million state budget shortfall.
The centerpiece of Beshear's proposal is a 70-cent increase in the per-pack tax on cigarettes, which would raise the levy to $1.
Kentucky Court of Appeals justices are hearing arguments regarding Louisville's smoking ban. A three judge panel will review the ban.
It was ruled "unconstitutional" by a Jefferson County Court judge in November 2007 because it did not include Churchill Downs, allowing smoking indoors at the track.
Substantially higher cigarette taxes would prompt more adults to quit smoking, fewer kids to start, and would save taxpayers and businesses a fortune, said Ellen Hahn, a University of Kentucky nursing professor and anti-smoking crusader. "It's the single most important thing we could do to reduce consumption," she said.
Hahn warned, though, that a small tax increase won't be enough to reduce consumption, because cigarette companies will simply cut their prices and profit margins to maintain sales.
In addition to all of the smoking-related deaths, pain and suffering, Hahn said, health care organizations estimate that Kentucky could save more than $1.3 billion in long-term health care costs with a 70-cent increase in the cigarette tax.
"That's the piece that people don't realize," she said. "People who aren't smokers say 'this doesn't affect me.' But it affects everyone. It's money out of our pockets."
Health groups, business interests and education advocates -- including the state chamber of commerce and the University of Kentucky -- are planning ambitious efforts to rally support for Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed 70-cent increase in the cigarette tax.
"We started e-mailing board members and superintendents right away," said Brad Hughes, spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association, "to encourage them to urge their legislators to support the governor's approach."
They have their work cut out for them. Even a powerful supporter of the 70-cent increase said it could be a long shot.
"I tend to think 70 cents would not pass the House, but I'm not sure of that," said Rep. Harry Moberly, the Richmond Democrat who is chairman of the House budget committee and supports the tax increase.