CNS Briefs

General Assembly wrap up

Survey supports smoking ban

Anti-smoking lobby groups released
a survey Wednesday stating that threefourths
of Virginia voters favor a broad
ban on smoking.

The report comes as four major
anti-smoking bills pass in the Senate
Education and Health Committee.
Proponents of a ban say the danger
of secondhand smoke no longer can
be ignored.

“We are way beyond the years when
we could say if you want to smoke,
yourself, it’s OK because you aren’t
affecting other people,” said Sen. Mary
Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington.

Senate Bill 298 would make lighting
up in a public place illegal. Some
exceptions include smoking in home
offices, cars and private clubs.
The ban has a broad reach that
would please many and upset others,
the survey reports.

Although 96 percent of Virginian
voters surveyed stated secondhand
smoke is a health hazard, opponents
of the ban say, regardless of public
opinion, the government should not
get involved in private-business decisions.

“It should be up to the owner of
the establishment (whether to allow
smoking),” said David Meyer of Milan
Tobacconists, a Roanoke tobacco
shop.

Meyer receives a lot of business from
country clubs, hotels and people who
want to enjoy a cigar at the smokerfriendly
restaurant next door to his
shop. If the smoking ban passes, Meyer
and the entire tobacco industry would
lose customers, he said.

“The tobacco industry provides a
lot of revenues for the state,” Meyer
said.

The tobacco industry contributed
$5.5 million to the General Assembly
over the past decade, according to
the Virginia Public Access Project, an
online database that tracks campaign
contributions.

Brief by Christen Duxbury

Uranium mining hotly contested in General Assembly

Pittsylvania County formally was
named in a Senate bill amendment the
site where a study assessing the risks
and benefits of developing uranium
resources will take place.

The debate about the controversial issue
of uranium mining picked up steam
again at a meeting of the six-member
Senate Agriculture, Conservation and
Natural Resources Subcommittee
Thursday. Proposed amendments to
Senate Bill 525, sponsored by Sen.
Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach,
would permit state-wide uraniummining
studies. The studies would be
conducted to determine potential areas
for uranium mining across the state.

High financial costs and environmental
safety concerns prompted
Virginia to ban uranium mining 20
years ago, but the need for alternative
fuel sources has sparked renewed interest.
Opponents of uranium mining cite
potential ecological threats and say the
effects the mining process could have
on a region are unclear.

Sen. Frank M. Ruff, R-Clarksville,
said the amendments will aid in moving
the bill forward.

“It became apparent that everyone
looked out for themselves,” Ruff said.
“If it wasn’t going to affect their area,
then it was good policy.”

Brief by Jonathan Howard and M.K. Luther

Animal-fighting bills flood General Assembly

A surge of animal-fighting bills was
filed in the 2008 General Assembly as a
possible response to public outcry over
the Michael Vick dog-fighting case.

“I think a lot of the bills that increase
the penalties for animal fighting were
spurred by the Michael Vick case, no
question about it,” said Delegate James
M. Scott, D-Merrifield.

Scott proposed House Bill 1057,
which addresses the issue of cockfighting.

“I felt that the whole issue of animal
fighting was a terrible problem for the
commonwealth, and I was asked to do
so by the humane society,” Scott said.

Delegate Kenneth C. Alexander,
D-Norfolk, as well as Delegate Riley E.
Ingram, R-Hopewell, each proposed a
bill against animal fighting. Both have
asked that the bills be stricken.

“It (the bill) gives the animal control
officer just another tool to strengthen or
reiterate some statutes that are already
on the books,” Alexander said. “A lot
of times it is not that the owner has
done anything neglectful. It is just they
may not know.”

Delegate Jennifer L. McClellan,
D-Richmond, is sponsoring House Bill
334, which would make the theft of a
cat a Class 5 felony.

McClellan says other animals protected
by the original statute included
dogs, horses, cows, mules, sheep, goats
and chickens, but not cats.

Brief by Mary Boyd