Smoking bill passes committee
The most stringent of a passel of anti-smoking measures, Rep. Hugh Holliman's House Bill 259, passed the House Judiciary Committee this morning.
Locally, Rep. John Blust voted against the measure. Rep. Pricey Harrison was not at the meeting.
The bill would ban smoking in all but a handful of public places and work places.
It next heads to the House floor. After that, the Senate gets to take its crack at it.
Now, last session, Holliman ran a bill that would have curbed smoking in restaurants. It went down in flames.
So why is he having better success now?
"The awareness of the health issues of second hand smoke has grown," he said.
