Might as well call it a clean air act.
On Monday, Governor Timothy Kaine was at Croc’s 19th Street Bistro in Virginia Beach for a signing ceremony making restaurants and bars smoke-free. The law goes into effect on December 1.
With the stroke of a pen, Kaine’s signature on Senate Bill 1105 and House Bill 1703 guaranteed patrons and employees of dining establishments a healthy environment.
The standing room audience on hand for the signing heard Gov. Kaine praise Croc’s owner Laura Habr and the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association as well as legislators, Speaker Bill Howell and medical organizations for their support of the bill.
Kaine said he was confident the bill would pass because he was encouraged by the support he received in 2006 when he signed an executive order banning smoking in all state buildings. While efforts to ban smoking in restaurants were not successful in 2008, this year found Republicans and Democrats working together to pass the legislation. Tobacco has been a cash crop even before the English arrived at Jamestown in 1607.
“I think it is very significant,” said the governor, “even more so than in some states. It was tobacco that enabled Jamestown to thrive. Tobacco has been Virginia’s largest export from the 1600s all the way up to the last decade. There are tobacco leaves on the roof of the capitol in Richmond, so this was a big one.
“It was a classic example of people listening to their constituents. As the awareness of secondhand smoke dangers has become so plain, people have been demanding it. It was great working with such a coalition to make it happen.”
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