HOUSE MAY RETHINK DEFANGING OF BAR SMOKING BAN
Hopes for a statewide ban on smoking in bars haven't gone up in
smoke, but backers are trying to figure out how to fix the
proposal after it was gutted by a House amendment.
As it originally hit the House floor Friday, the bill by Rep.
Myra Crownover would have banned smoking in workplaces,
including restaurants and bars, with an exception for cigar
bars.
But Rep. Harold Dutton painted the cigar-bar exemption as an
elitist one, saying people who go to regular bars should get the
same benefit as those who frequent fancy cigar bars.
"You don't find cigar bars in inner-city neighborhoods," said
Dutton, D-Houston.
