A Philadelphia smoking ban - long discussed and passed by City Council this summer - may have again hit a snag.
Mayor John Street has recently voiced concern about the bill and says he is considering vetoing the legislation by Thursday's deadline.
His main complaint is that the ban does not extend to outdoor cafes, though some attribute his failure to sign this and previous legislation on the issue to personal differences between himself and former Councilman Michael Nutter, a proponent of smoking-ban legislation who is currently running for mayor.
Margie McGann, director of preventative health services for the American Cancer Society Philadelphia chapter, said that she hopes Street will look past the exemption for outdoor cafes and sign the legislation.
"I feel confident that the mayor has been such a strong leader in public health issues throughout his administration," she said. "We understand that he's taking a look at the bill for health-related reasons, [but] we hope that he will decide to sign the bill."
Brian Abernathy, a legislative assistant for Councilman Frank DiCicco, said that DiCicco - who brokered a compromise on the bill's scope that helped get it passed through Council - understands Street's viewpoint but still thinks that the legislation should be signed into law.
"We recognize the concern and consider it valid," Abernathy said. "But we want to get this done - it needs to be put to bed. You have to make compromises to move the city forward, and [DiCicco] is willing to make that compromise."
Marian Tasco - the councilwoman who sponsored anti-smoking legislation that was voted down in the spring - also said she hopes that the bill will be signed, spokeswoman Melody Wright said.
"We would have to go back to the drawing board," she said.
Wright added, however, that it may be too early to say this attempt is dead.
"Just because there's a threat looming over our heads, we don't want to concede defeat yet," she said.
Tony Radwinski, spokesman for Council President Anna Verna, said that he thinks Street will probably avoid vetoing the bill.
"I would imagine he would probably sign it," he said. "If you look at non-smoking legislation around the country, most of them do exempt outdoor cafes."
If Street were to use his veto, an override would require 12 of 14 votes from Council, a feat that seems highly improbable considering the difficulty encountered in originally passing it.
"If it should be vetoed, we will not be giving up," McGann said. "We're not going away is the bottom line. The public health advocates . aren't going anywhere. The issue's not going anywhere. We'll be back again."
