Holy Smokes, the ban on smoking in restaurants in Virginia passed today.
I'm getting mixed signals from the news, though - the Times Dispatch article to which I linked says there's more voting to be done. NBC 12, on the other hand, reported on the 6:00 news that the bill "now heads to Gov. Tim Kaine for approval, where it is expected to be signed into law." I'm guessing NBC is a little further ahead than the Times Dispatch (I hope so), but either way there's sure to be more detail as time passes. The main thing I'm trying to hear now is when the measure is to take effect. Some sources say October 1st while others say January 1, 2010. I'm hoping for the former :-)
UPDATE: Okay, so NBC 12 updated their story and removed the portion stating that it's moving to Kaine's desk. Regardless, it seems that at the latest VA restaurants could be smoke-free by the end of this year. I'm pumped!
UPDATE 2: Final word for now...so some of the bill's teeth were pulled. The delay is indeed 'till January 1, 2010. So it won't take effect this year. At least it will sometime, though. Additionally, the Times Dispatch reports that another more craptaculous exception was included to "allow smoking whenever minors are not allowed." Oh well. It's a start. It's a good thing that our state government was able to do anything here in the land of tobacco.
I'm getting mixed signals from the news, though - the Times Dispatch article to which I linked says there's more voting to be done. NBC 12, on the other hand, reported on the 6:00 news that the bill "now heads to Gov. Tim Kaine for approval, where it is expected to be signed into law." I'm guessing NBC is a little further ahead than the Times Dispatch (I hope so), but either way there's sure to be more detail as time passes. The main thing I'm trying to hear now is when the measure is to take effect. Some sources say October 1st while others say January 1, 2010. I'm hoping for the former :-)
UPDATE: Okay, so NBC 12 updated their story and removed the portion stating that it's moving to Kaine's desk. Regardless, it seems that at the latest VA restaurants could be smoke-free by the end of this year. I'm pumped!
UPDATE 2: Final word for now...so some of the bill's teeth were pulled. The delay is indeed 'till January 1, 2010. So it won't take effect this year. At least it will sometime, though. Additionally, the Times Dispatch reports that another more craptaculous exception was included to "allow smoking whenever minors are not allowed." Oh well. It's a start. It's a good thing that our state government was able to do anything here in the land of tobacco.