Assembly OKs Smoking Ban for Travelers

The Assembly, after a spirited debate, passed legislation Tuesday to ban smoking on all commercial airline, train and bus trips that begin and end in California.

The measure also would require that at least 75% of the space in airports and public transit centers be set aside for nonsmokers.

Citing a recent U.S. surgeon general’s report on the hazards of secondhand smoke, the bill’s backers contended that the measure is needed to protect the rights of nonsmokers to breathe clean air.

Lively Debate

The bill passed on a vote of 43 to 26 after a debate filled with laughter, cheers and biting comments between smokers and nonsmokers. So tenacious were the opponents that they managed to delay official announcement of the vote for five hours while, in private huddles, they reversed the votes of five members. And although that effort fell short, permission was granted to have the matter reconsidered today.

If Tuesday’s vote stands, the measure will be returned to the Senate for approval of a minor Assembly amendment. The Senate earlier passed the bill on a lopsided 35-0 vote. Gov. George Deukmejian so far has not taken a position on the issue.

“This bill attempts to strike a balance and solve a very serious health problem for all of us,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), who sponsored the bill on the Assembly floor for its author, veteran Sen. Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland).

Although smoking on airlines and Amtrak trains is now regulated by the federal government, Legislative Counsel Bion M. Gregory has ruled in an opinion that federal law does not prohibit California from banning smoking on airline flights or train trips that begin and end within the state.

Gregory based his opinion on past court cases which he said found that Amtrak train “services,” which under federal law cannot be regulated by the states, do not include the serving of alcohol.

“If Amtrak can accommodate the passage of its trains through the several states with all of the various laws relating to alcoholic beverages, it is reasonable to conclude that the corporation could also comply with a state law prohibiting smoking,” Gregory wrote. The same logic would apply to air travel, he added.

Assembly opponents of the measure argued that the bill would violate smokers’ rights.

“I think this is really a civil rights issue,” said Assemblyman Richard E. Longshore (R-Santa Ana), a chain smoker whose comments prompted a loud round of guffaws from his peers. “First you say ‘smokers get to the back of the bus,’ and now you’re telling smokers to get off the bus.”

Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte), another smoker, described the measure as a “terrible bill” that would “violate people’s rights to do what they choose with their own bodies.”

But that comment brought a sharp rebuke from Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge), who said she has been trying unsuccessfully for several years to move similar legislation.

“This is not a violation of anyone’s rights,” La Follette said. “It’s a consideration of everyone’s rights. There are a lot of people who become ill because of someone else smoking adjacent to them.”

And to one assemblyman’s objections that the bill’s restrictions on transit center waiting rooms could force smokers in small towns to go outside during bad weather, La Follette replied:

“Those people, if they have to smoke, can go outside and catch pneumonia in the rain.”

The bill is supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Assn., the American Heart Assn. and other anti-smoking groups.

Bill Hastings, a spokesman for Pacific Southwest Airlines, which has more flights within California than any other airline, said passage of the bill would be “unfortunate.”

“We’re there to serve passengers, those who smoke and those who do not,” Hastings said. “We feel existing legislation serves both groups well.”

Hastings said the “smoking issue” has faded as a cause among passengers in recent years because airlines have generally provided rows for as many nonsmokers as there are on each flight.

“The complaints are few and far between anymore,” Hastings said.