This is getting ridiculous.
This came out of our local paper. I can't believe that they are doing this. My opinion is that this is a little more goverment interference than we need.
Senator looks to ban smoking
Lincoln (AP)-- The Capital City already has banned public smoking and the Omaha City Council's efforts to curtail it were thwarted by the mayor, and now a state semator wants to ban smoking across Nebraska.
Sen. Nancy Thompson of Papillion proposed the idea Thursday to the Health and Human Services Committee.
"This is a public health issue for me," Thompson said.
The committee discussed a cluster of bills aimed at curtailing smoking, including one (LB480) by Thompson to eliminate smoking in all restaurants and bars that serve food.
But Thompson also offered an amendment that would extend the ban to all workplaces in Nebraska-- including bars.
"There isn't a health group in this country that doesn't support smoke-free workplaces," she Said.
The Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act allows businesses to choose whether to allow smoking, ban it or allow it in designated areas.
Jim Partington, executive director of the Nebraska Restarurant Association, spoke against the measure.
:I'm not here to defend smoking," he said. "But...my members believe they should have the freedom to accommodate the wishes of their customers."
A citywide smoking ban approved by voters in Lincoln went into effect on Jan. 1. And Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey recently vetoed a smoking ban passed by the City Council.
The Omaha ban would have applied to all restaurants and other public meeting places except bars that do not have a kitchen, existing keno and membership organizations like veterans' clubs, and the local horse racing track.
Fahey had vetoed the ban because he wanted to prohibit smoking in all public places in the city.
Councilman Marc Kraft, who had originally proposed the measure, said he will introduce another ban after the city's elections in May."