[Wheee The People]

nearly equal numbers of Republican and DFL lawmakers joined together to pass the statewide smoking ban by comfortable margins in both the Senate and the House.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a Republican...Social Conservatives applaud this and we like the results despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth here.

[hometoroost]

They can get things done they just can’t get things right. The nanny state creeps further along.

[eXe]

“Smoking ban proves Legislature can get things done “

Yeah like take people’s rights away and grow the nanny state.. JUST what we need..

[Freedom4US]

"We are empathetic to business owners who still believe they'll lose customers as a result of the statewide ban."

They have no idea what "empathy" means, and "leveling the playing field" is tacit admission they know there isn't anything fair about this. I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I always take a second look at issues whose adherents stoop to rhetoric and obfuscation. Nobody has to lie and perform mental gymnastics if they are on the up and up.

[timydnuc]

I live in Minnesota and we have a cabin in Wisconsin. We go to the rural areas of both states (friends live there). They passed the Bill, now let them enforce it, especially in the vast rural area in both states. The smoking Nazis will have a fit when they find out that there is smoking in the VFW camp lodge lounge on Big Marine Lake. I would advise against trying to stop those crazy old Nam Vets. They’ll be using their a$$es as Pike bait in the morning.

[GoldCountryRedneck]

After all, no one is forcing individuals to frequent bars or restaurants that permit smoking

And right there it should end...

[GOP_Lady]

Like I mentioned before, you don’t understand Rush. Maybe this will clarify things, because this is you.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_051607/content/01125118.member.html

[GOP_Lady]

Hope you’re happy...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1834200/posts?page=23#23

[small voice in the wilderness]

I bet you have the “I mind your business because I care” bumper sticker. On your minivan. That you drive down the road, in the left lane, going 30, talking on your cellphone, while completely ignoring the 5 mile backup of traffic you have created behind you. Because, after all, you care..

[mysterio]

Used to be that the nanny state was the territory of the dems. Not any more, apparently. Plenty of Republicans have jumped right on board. Some Freepers have, as well.

[SheLion]

Read just how much Minnesota  Smokers are contributing to the state economy with the taxes they pay on cigarettes:

Tobacco Taxes and Payments for Minnesota

Minnesota's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $1.485
Minnesota's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2005: $160,653,000

Sales tax on tobacco products: 6.50%
Tobacco products sales tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2005: $80,675,000
Local tax on tobacco products: $0
Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39
Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2005: $7,778,569,117
Click here for the Cigarette Tax and Payment Table for all states.

Master Settlement Agreement Payments Received According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids*

$2,248,500,000 has been paid to Minnesota through Fiscal Year 2005 since the Master Settlement Agreement was signed on November 23, 1998.

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[SheLion]

The Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association strongly opposes the proposed Minneapolis-only smoking ban in bars and restaurants. The city simply can't afford it.

BYLINE: Greg D. Ortale
CREDITLINE:
HEADLINE: Greg D. Ortale:

 In any smoking ban, cover entire state

The Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association strongly opposes the proposed Minneapolis-only smoking ban in bars and restaurants. The city simply can't afford it. The hospitality industry -- including tourism and convention business -- is vital to the Minneapolis economy. Last year, nearly 500,000 convention delegates spent $321 million in our city. Our millions of overnight leisure visitors spend more than $2 billion annually. They come to eat, drink and enjoy themselves in our social establishments. More important, every weekend, thousands of suburban residents jam the Warehouse District to take in Minneapolis nightlife.

The financial impact of a smoking ban that is not statewide is proven. In Tempe, Ariz. -- where a smoking ban was enacted in the city and not in surrounding communities -- there was a nearly 22 percent decrease in tax collections from bars year over year. The Chamber of Commerce tracked sales in 18 of Tempe's bars and restaurants after the ban. There was an 18 to 32 percent loss of sales in these businesses.

One restaurant even reported a 22 percent shift of customer base from its Tempe location to another location in a city without the smoking ban. Such a loss of business would jeopardize the survival of many neighborhood bars and restaurants and, perhaps, larger establishments downtown.

It definitely means lost employment. Several thousand Minneapolis residents work in the hospitality industry.
A number of restaurants have indicated to me that without smoking areas, the resulting lost business would force them to lay off employees. The hardest hit would be the independently owned bars and restaurants. Both Duluth and Tempe -- where there are city-only smoking bans -- reported closed businesses because of it. Most were small "mom and pop" bars and restaurants that were unable to weather an economic hit.

A Tempe-size tax-revenue loss in Minneapolis would equate to more than $3 million in restaurant and entertainment tax, and an additional $3 million in sales tax, based on 2003 collections. This is a real and serious concern. Hospitality tax revenues not only go to the city's general fund, they support the retirement of the bond issue at the Minneapolis Convention Center and provide backup to city funding for the Target Center, not to mention the additional restaurant and entertainment tax proposed to help fund the Twins ballpark.

The proposed smoking ban raises other serious issues that should be considered before enactment:

Should the city abrogate the right of independent, fee-paying, tax-paying businesses to determine their own economic fate?< /P> Would the city be obliged to reduce fees or offer tax relief for creating an artificial economic disparity?
. What does the projected loss of neighborhood businesses do to the stability of those neighborhoods?
. If the tax collections go down, what new revenues will fill the gap, or will additional city services need to be cut?
. Why aren't air-handling technologies being considered in lieu of a total ban?

Smokingis a legal activity in the United States. While it may not be healthy and causes environmental consequences, individual business owners should make a smoking/non-smoking decision based on their own clientele, economic circumstances and employees.

Minneapolis city leaders need to consider the economic and employment consequences of a Minneapolis-only smoking ban. But if city leaders determine a smoking ban is generally in the best interest of the community, then a high priority should be placed on enacting a statewide ban -- not on creating economic disparity and hardship by enacting a smoking ban in Minneapolis ... or even St. Paul.

Freedom of business choice or a uniform statewide ban -- these are the only two viable choices for this issue. Minneapolis can't afford the loss of money or jobs that would result from a city-only smoking ban.

Greg D. Ortale is president and chief executive officer of the Greater Minneapolis Convention and Visitors Association.

[Eastbound]

"Smoking ban proves Legislature can get things done"

The legislatures are pikers. Just think of all the things Hitler accomplished all by himself.

[uglybiker]

Maybe some customers will use the next four and a half months to complete smoking cessation programs, or cut back on their tobacco use.

And maybe this person could keel over from a brain hemorrage.

And we could debate which wold be a greater benefeit to society.

[napscoordinator]

Social Conservatives applaud this

Please go back to DU you big TROLL!!!! Yes you are a disgrace to conservatives. Why would you want government controlling people’s lives. BTW, I don’t smoke, but I don’t want government getting in people’s lives. You are obviously a big lover of government bennies which is why you want big government.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

If Fred Thompson does finally decide to officially run for President, watch the mainstream media viciously attack him very soon for being a cigar smoker.

[CSM]

“Social Conservatives applaud this and we like the results despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth here.”

Do you also applaud the Kelo decision? How about when the same tools are used to implement hate speech decisions against folks that are fighting the homosexual agenda?

Be careful what you applaud for someday that applause will drown out the sound of the folks that are ready to use your tools against you.

[-YYZ-]

So what you’re saying is that social conservatives are actually nanny-staters, is that it? I’ve always suspected as much, anyway. Just remember, the same government that forces a smoking ban on private business owners, “for our own good”, will force your kids into gay indoctrination classes in school, “for their own good”. Welcome to a hell of your own creation, hope you enjoy it.

[Smokin' Joe]

But those local ordinances create an unequal playing field for bar and restaurant owners who fear they'll lose business to nearby communities. The statewide bill goes a long way toward leveling the playing field.

..he says as the customers desert the bars in East Grand Forks and Moorehead..and head west to North Dakota.

The only problem is that this will enhance business (even in the smoke-free restaurants) in Fargo and Grand Forks, which will provide skewed data to proove that such bans don't hurt business. YMMV

[Sunshine Sister]

Leader in the protection of public health my ass. They still have mosquitoes in MN. They are far worse to my health than smoking is.

[RightWhale]

The smoking ban is merely a practice run like when Hitler sent the Wehrmacht into the Rhineland.