If you were looking for a good example of how political bickering can hold up meaningful legislation, City Hall is putting on a clinic. This spring, City Council came within a hair of passing a smoking ban that would bring Philadelphia up to par with our neighbors in Delaware, New York and most of New England.
Then they dropped the ball.
It's time to pick it back up.
As this column noted back in January, a smoking ban in restaurants and bars is more than just an exercise in making dining more pleasant for patrons, but it is also a necessary improvement in workplace safety for employees.
Yet, despite the efforts of Councilman Michael Nutter, nothing has come of a ban that should have been enacted when it was first discussed five years ago.
Citizens support the ban. The vast majority of Philadelphians do not smoke. Nine states have had bans on the books for years and have not suffered economically. What seems to be the problem here?
California was a pioneer in outlawing smoking in bars and restaurants a decade ago. Did customers stay home? No. Are employees in that industry no longer subject to secondhand smoke which, given its proven health risks, made their workplace dangerous? Yes.
The same should be the case in Philadelphia.
Council owes it to anyone who has ever walked out of a bar reeking of cigarette smoke to pass a reasonable ban on lighting up in confined public places.
This time, the city's legislators need to put their squabbling aside and take a step toward improving everyone's lives.
