The Associated Press reported a compromise on the smoking ban:
After two hours of debate, a legislative conference committee voted 5-1 to ban smoking in most workplaces and public spaces, including restaurants, office buildings, bus and train stations and sports arenas.
BUT …
he bill contains a dozen exemptions. They include bars and taverns; tobacco shops; cigar bars; portions of casino floors, private clubs run by groups such as the Elks or Veterans of Foreign Wars; and as many as one-quarter of the rooms in hotels and other lodging establishments.
AND …
It also would bar any county or municipality from enacting its own smoking ban, but allow Philadelphia’s current ban, the only active local smoking ban in the state, to stand.
I smell Rendell veto. I also anticipate a rough debate, particularly in the House. And there’s going to be considerable outcry from boroughs and cities like Lancaster and Lititz and Pittsburgh who will want to make stiffer ordinances than what’s on the table in Harrisburg.
