Jump to full article: New Orleans (LA) Times Picayune, 2009-06-09
Author: Jan Moller, The Times-Picayune
Intro: The final embers of the effort to expand Louisiana's indoor smoking ban were extinguished this morning, when a House committee killed a bill that would have banned smoking in bars that sell food.
The House Health and Welfare Committee voted 11-6 to derail Senate Bill 186 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux Jr., D-Livonia, after amending the measure to keep smoking legal in casinos and bars that don't sell food.
Its defeat follows a lopsided vote by the full House last week to kill a broader measure that would have outlawed smoking in all indoor public venues, including gambling establishments and bars.
As it came to the committee, the bill was virtually identical to the one that died on the House floor. With that vote in mind, Marionneaux scaled back the legislation to only cover bars.
Supporters of the bill said existing law creates an uneven playing field between restaurants -- defined as establishments that get more than half their revenues from the sale of food -- and bars. Restaurants have had a smoking ban in effect since 2007
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