Smoking ban an abuse of power, bar owners group says
Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health members overstepped their authority when they enacted a countywide smoking ban in bars and gambling parlors, a decision that has led to a decline in state revenue from video lottery poker machines, according to a statewide group that represents the businesses.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health members overstepped their authority when they enacted a countywide smoking ban in bars and gambling parlors, a decision that has led to a decline in state revenue from video lottery poker machines, according to a statewide group that represents the businesses.
The West Virginia Association of Club Owners & Fraternal Services is urging Kanawha County bar and gambling parlor owners to file insurance claims against the Health Department, if they can prove their profits have dropped since the expanded smoking ban took effect July 1.
Dave Kline's New Orleans Coffee House video lottery parlor in St. Albans has seen a drop in sales since the Kanawha County smoking ban took effect in July.
The amount of money bar and gambling parlor patrons pumped into the poker machines dropped by $1.2 million from June to July in Kanawha County - a 9 percent decrease, according to state Lottery Commission data.
"The health board doesn't have the authority to completely ban smoking and destroy a business," said Jesse Bane, spokesman for the club association. "They should regulate, not legislate."
Bar and gambling parlor owners have repeatedly criticized the smoking ban, but health board members say they have no plans to rescind it. They say the criticism is premature, and that bar sales will rebound in time.
"I don't think you can say in one or two months that that these businesses have been irrevocably harmed," said Brenda Isaac, health board president. "We have an ethical and legal responsibility to protect the public's health. There's no safe amount of second-hand smoke."
The state club association fired off a five-page letter to Kanawha-Charleston health board members last week.
In the letter, Bane said the state legalized video lottery machines in 2004 to generate additional tax revenues. Kanawha County's smoking ban has decreased the taxes the state collects, Bane said.
"Only the state Legislature has the means to increase or decrease tax revenue, not the Kanawha County Board of Health," Bane said.
If the Kanawha health board can legally approve regulations that hurt businesses, then it should have the power to increase the cigarette tax or abolish cigarette sales in the county, which it cannot do, Bane said.
Under state law, the health board doesn't have the right to destroy the "economic use" of bars and gambling parlors, Bane said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health members overstepped their authority when they enacted a countywide smoking ban in bars and gambling parlors, a decision that has led to a decline in state revenue from video lottery poker machines, according to a statewide group that represents the businesses.
The West Virginia Association of Club Owners & Fraternal Services is urging Kanawha County bar and gambling parlor owners to file insurance claims against the Health Department, if they can prove their profits have dropped since the expanded smoking ban took effect July 1.
The amount of money bar and gambling parlor patrons pumped into the poker machines dropped by $1.2 million from June to July in Kanawha County - a 9 percent decrease, according to state Lottery Commission data.
"The health board doesn't have the authority to completely ban smoking and destroy a business," said Jesse Bane, spokesman for the club association. "They should regulate, not legislate."
Bar and gambling parlor owners have repeatedly criticized the smoking ban, but health board members say they have no plans to rescind it. They say the criticism is premature, and that bar sales will rebound in time.
"I don't think you can say in one or two months that that these businesses have been irrevocably harmed," said Brenda Isaac, health board president. "We have an ethical and legal responsibility to protect the public's health. There's no safe amount of second-hand smoke."
The state club association fired off a five-page letter to Kanawha-Charleston health board members last week.
In the letter, Bane said the state legalized video lottery machines in 2004 to generate additional tax revenues. Kanawha County's smoking ban has decreased the taxes the state collects, Bane said.
"Only the state Legislature has the means to increase or decrease tax revenue, not the Kanawha County Board of Health," Bane said.
If the Kanawha health board can legally approve regulations that hurt businesses, then it should have the power to increase the cigarette tax or abolish cigarette sales in the county, which it cannot do, Bane said.
Under state law, the health board doesn't have the right to destroy the "economic use" of bars and gambling parlors, Bane said.
"The bars will die if they don't have smoking," he predicted. "They need to leave the bars alone."
Bane said the bars should file insurance claims against the health board because it committed a "wrongful act." The next step would be to sue health board members individually, he said.
"If they made a mistake by enacting this smoking ban and hurting these businesses, then these places should be making a claim against them," said Bane, who works as an insurance sales agent in Fayette County.
The Health Department has insurance through the state's Board of Risk & Insurance Management.
The club association also asserts that the health board's decision to ban smoking violates the equal protection provision of the state Constitution because video lottery parlors play by different rules from one county to the next. Only 19 of the state's 55 county's prohibit smoking in bars.
Putnam County rescinded its ban on smoking in bars and gambling parlors last year.
Dave Kline owns video lottery parlors in Kanawha and Putnam counties. His customers spent $25,700 less at his St. Albans store - New Orleans Coffee House - last month compared to June. Meanwhile, Kline's Putnam County gambling parlor - also called New Orleans Coffee House - saw a $28,000 increase over the same time period.
"How can you have one rule in one county and have another in another county?" said Kline, who belongs to the club association. "I don't think the health board can regulate state revenue."
Bane predicted the state Legislature will have to look for ways to make up for the video lottery losses caused by the Kanawha County smoking ban. Kanawha County has more than 150 bars and gambling parlors with video poker machines.
"Ask the non-smoking citizen if they want their taxes increased because bars, video lottery and fraternal patrons aren't allowed to smoke," Bane said.
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Posted By: unbelievable(12:09am 08-23-2008)
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jm....i would rather sit in a bar with a smoker beside of me any day of the week (i am a non smoker) than to have a person of your intelligence sitting next to me. Your comment about trailer parks was uncalled for and very distasteful. That has nothing at all to do with smoking in bars.
Posted By: flex(2:48pm 08-22-2008)
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To:IAQ.
I do agree to most of Your post, however Your statement about holding smokers responsible for their choices when it comes to Health Insurance and treatment can lead to a very slippery slope.
Aside from the fact that even lung cancer can not directly related to smoking, there is the question of what is a self-inflicted condition is?
Over weight? Motor cycle drivers? People engaged in any sports and or activities which can be considered risky? Such as scuba diving, skydiving, boxing, skate boarding,any extreme sports, hunting, off road vehicles, pilots of private planes, rock climbers, .... and dozens of others. Drug abuse (legal and illegal)? People who are not in shape? Consume alcohol? Insist of having a risky occupation or job?
I can go on, but I think You got my drift.
Posted By: IAQ Man(6:53pm 08-21-2008)
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Personally, I hate cigarettes and given the health risks feel that people who smoke are foolish for doing so. I choose to avoid smokey venues. I also believe that the right to smoke stops when others are unwillingly and unavoidably exposed to someone else's smoke. That being said, I feel that smoking bans that apply to privately owned buildings/businesses are nothing less than liberal fascism. The free market should determine the success or failure of the smoking policies implemented by a business owner, not some bureaucrat. No one is forced to patronize any particular bar, restaurant, etc. As a liberal might put it, "It's like TV - if you don't like it, change the channel, but don't tell me what to watch." However, I also feel that smoker's must be held responsible for their choices. Health insurance should not cover disease that is directly related to smoking, or any other self-inflicted condition. Life insurance is void in the case of suicide.
Posted By: CM(4:22pm 08-21-2008)
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Laughing @ we support you KCHD- you really think the air is clean? In chemical valley? They really have you brainwashed.
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I do agree to most of Your post, however Your statement about holding smokers responsible for their choices when it comes to Health Insurance and treatment can lead to a very slippery slope.
Aside from the fact that even lung cancer can not directly related to smoking, there is the question of what is a self-inflicted condition is?
Over weight? Motor cycle drivers? People engaged in any sports and or activities which can be considered risky? Such as scuba diving, skydiving, boxing, skate boarding,any extreme sports, hunting, off road vehicles, pilots of private planes, rock climbers, .... and dozens of others. Drug abuse (legal and illegal)? People who are not in shape? Consume alcohol? Insist of having a risky occupation or job?
I can go on, but I think You got my drift.