IowaPolitics.com BlogWatch

I've figured out how to forge a compromise between bickering casinos,
gambling expansionists and health advocates -- create "Health
Casino." Please, hold your applause until the end. Casinos want to
keep their hard-fought smoking ban exemption, which allows smoking on
gaming floors. But health advocates want that loophole filled, pronto.
Gambling expansionists want more casinos in places such as Tama and
Fort Dodge, Hampton and Ottumwa. But casinos fear lost business.
That's where Health Casinos come in. Existing casinos can keep smoky
gaming floors, but any new casinos opened from here on out will be
smoke-free. That way, health-conscious gamblers will have a smoke-free
place to lose money or watch D-list entertainment. Everybody gets what
they want.

Labels: gambling, smoking_ban

William Meyers is obviously passionate about politics and willing to
spend lots of time volunteering for political causes, which is
commendable. But I am hard-pressed to think of any activist who has
applied himself in a more self-defeating and counter-productive way
than Meyers. First he declared himself an independent candidate for
Congress after losing the fourth district primary--a move I still
think he will regret someday. Now I learn from Iowa Independent that
Meyers has launched a new website against Iowa's smoking ban. I spent
a little time on repealthesmokingban.org. The "leaders" page lists
Meyers as the founder and online coordinator of
Repealthesmokingban.org and former Republican State Senator George
Eichhorn as the attorney representing bar and restaurant owners who
are fighting the ban.

Labels: smoking_ban

Independent Congressional candidate William Meyers, who lost his
district's Democratic primary last month, has launched a new Web site
he hopes will become the focal point for the movement to repeal the
recently enacted statewide smoking ban. The site attacks most
Democrats in both chambers of the state legislature. The site,
RepealTheSmokingBan.org, officially went live earlier today. Meyers
said he is currently operating it on his own but hopes in the coming
days to contact interested parties who are working to overturn the ban
to inform see if they would be interested in utilizing the site to
unify the movement on a statewide basis. "I want to donate the site to
groups trying to get this terrible law overturned," Meyers said.

Labels: 4th CD, smoking_ban

Any small town Iowa city hall reporter knows that when council members
get to the routine liquor license renewals it is the rubber stamp of
all rubber stamps. All "aye" and on to the next item. Not so in
Clinton -- which seems to be something of a front line in a brewing
war over the Iowa smoking ban, with a local bar organization joining a
lawsuit to challenge the new law and several bars reportedly violating
it to keep angry customers from walking out the doors after half a
beer. At a recent city council meeting in Clinton one councilman used
a liquor-license renewal request for a bar, Paul's Tap, to report the
establishment for an alleged violation of the smoking ban the
councilman said he witnessed. The liquor license was approved but the
debate highlighted confusion over the ban and local government's role
in enforcing it.

Labels: smoking_ban

So, I was carousing the web this morning for some juicy news tidbits,
and I came across a couple stories that, by themselves aren't too
remarkable, but read together, are a little ironic. The first was a
story about how the anti-smoking ban crowd is whining yet again.
Surprising, I know. Now they are saying that the smoking ban is bad
because it forces smokers outside into the public where they can be
seen on city sidewalks and parking lots. They say this might be bad
for our image. The funny thing is that, implicit in that argument is
an acknowledgement that smoking is a dirty, disgusting, undesirable
habit. Hmmm… maybe this problem could be solved if PEOPLE QUIT
SMOKING. But no, their solution to this image problem is to let
smokers back inside to cover up our dirty little habit.

Labels: smoking_ban

I guess if you can't represent Iowa, the next best thing is
representing Iowa's smokers. It appears that former U.S. Senate
candidate George Eichhorn, who lost the GOP primary by a narrow margin
to Christopher Reed, has found a new pass time with which to occupy
his time. He's suing the state on behalf of bar owners to challenge
the smoking ban. Eichhorn (who is a picture of health) and his clients
want a judge to issue an injunction prohibiting the state from
enforcing the smoking ban until the courts have an opportunity to rule
on the merits of their case.

Labels: smoking_ban

It appears that more drama related to the smoking ban is brewing. An
administrative rules committee was supposed to vote this week on the
approval of certain administrative rules that would more clearly
define the smoking ban and provide more details about its
implementation. Certain people are upset about how the proposed rules
define bars versus restaurants. This is important because, under the
law, bars can allow smoking on outdoor patios, but restaurants can't.
Under the proposed rules, if you serve any type of food more
complicated than a frozen pizza, you are considered a restaurant, and
therefore can't allow smoking on outdoor patios.

Labels: smoking_ban

Over at Iowa Independent, Douglas Burns has put up another post
complaining about the tough bill on public smoking that the
legislature adopted earlier this month. Burns offers 10 ways to deal
with the smoking ban which, in his words, will introduce "a radical
cultural change in many shot-and-a-beer, small-town taverns that dot
the Iowa landscape." One of his suggestions is: "2. Take your anger
out on Gov. Chet Culver, Big Brother Democrats and Turncoat
Republicans…" I've got 10 suggestions for the smokers like Burns who
feel oppressed by "effete urban Iowans" (which isn't even accurate, if
you look at the list of legislators who voted for this bill): 1. Quit
using that "what will they ban next, fast food?" analogy.

Labels: smoking_ban

Gov. Chet Culver won't veto the ill-conceived, anti-rural and
laughably hypocritical imposition of Prohibition-era busy-busybodying
ban on smoking in Iowa's taverns. bIn fact, two of Culver's top
spokespeople already are on record heralding this week`s passage of
the strict smoke ban that, of course, exempts the money-minting
casinos, but tells owners of bars in Audubon and Carroll and Storm
Lake and Denison, places often peopled with a majority of smokers, to
get health-club, celery stalk-sucking religion by July 1. Culver's
surrogates tell us to expect Iowa's Democratic governor to sign House
File 2212 next Tuesday amid much fanfare and here-heres.

Labels: Chet_Culver, smoking_ban

Senator Larry McKibben, a Republican from Marshalltown, is not seeking
re-election, so perhaps that's why he felt free enough to call the
anti-smoking bill being debated this afternoon in the Iowa Senate
"crap." He also uttered the phrase "to hell with" on a few occasions.
I don't think there's a connection, but McKibben also admitted he
enjoyed "adult beverages" earlier in his remarks. UPDATE: The Senate
started this debate at 3:47 p.m. and it's now 5:30 p.m. Senator Joe
Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, had pushed the button on his desk,
indicating he wanted to speak during the debate and his request was
put in the cue. When Senate President Jack Kibbie called upon Bolkcom,
however, he wasn't at his desk.

Labels: smoking_ban, state Senate

10 Iowa legislators will try to do what 150 could not: agree on a smoking ban for the state. The ten will start work Thursday as members of a conference committee, charged with coming up with a compromise. The debate would seem not to be on a smoking ban, but rather what exemptions should the ban have. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal has already said the senate won't go for exemptions for bars and restaurants. And since this conference committee is only to consider previous exemptions, that would seem to leave casinos as the center of argument. Gambling only on casino floors seems to be the best bet now. One guy to watch in all of this is Cedar Rapids Democratic Representative Tyler Olson.

Labels: smoking_ban

So, our Legislature is now debating the merits of a statewide smoking ban in all public places, except limousines and casinos. The first go-round of this bill was suppose to allow cities or counties to make the decision whether to disallow smoking in these places, but it's apparent that some folks in the House think that decision should be taken away from us. Here's my spin on it: Smokers stink as bad as if they spent a couple hours in a hog confinement. They reek, and their odor precedes them everywhere they go. They probably don't realize it, but they stink. That being said, if they want to smoke, and if a business chooses to allow them to smoke in their confines, then that's their choice.

Labels: smoking_ban

Just days after the Iowa House passed a statewide smoking ban, with a
controversial but likely surviving exemption for casinos, Nebraska's
one-chamber Legislature passed a statewide with more limited
exemptions. The Husker bill has major implications for western Iowa,
particularly Council Bluffs and Sioux City, places with casinos that
would pull bar-goers and gamblers and even others just looking for an
indoor place that still allows smoking. Here is the Omaha
World-Herald: "Voting 34-14, lawmakers passed Legislative Bill 395,
which prohibits smoking in all public buildings and workplaces
statewide, including bars and restaurants." ... The bill would go into
effect June 1, 2009.

Labels: smoking_ban

There's something disingenuous about the cigarette conversations
taking place in Des Moines. On one hand, Iowa residents are being told
that the statewide ban currently under consideration -- recently
passed through the Iowa House of Representatives -- is in direct
response to public health concerns. On the other hand, we're learning
that the word "ban," much like the word "sex," has several different
levels of meaning. The proposed statewide ban isn't really a ban at
all. It will effectively remove tobacco use from most public spaces --
except casinos. The "ban" also allows for cigarettes to be smoked at
private clubs such as local veterans' halls. People can still smoke in
their cars, in their homes and on private property.

Labels: smoking_ban

A statewide smoking ban was approved Tuesday by the Iowa House Commerce Committee. The bill, managed by Rep. Tyler Olson of Cedar Rapids, was approved with two additional exemptions -- casinos and federally chartered veterans organization that are closed to the public. "Secondhand smoke contains 60 chemicals that cause cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases," said Olson, a Democrat. "There is no risk-free secondhand smoke exposure for Iowans or workers. This creation of smoke-free places will protect Iowans in 99 percent of public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants."

Labels: smoking_ban, state House