Panel votes smoking areas for state Capitol

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Legislation that would make the state Capitol a "no smoking" area was amended by a House committee Monday to permit smoking in designated areas with proper ventilation.

The action by the House Commerce, Industry and Labor Committee was a setback for smoking opponents who want to ban smoking at the Capitol. Currently, lawmakers are allowed to smoke in their Capitol offices.

"There's no assurance that the Capitol will be any less smoky than it is right now," said Oklahoma's commissioner of health, Dr. Leslie M. Beitsch.

Rep. Kevin Calvey, R-Del City, said failure to ban smoking at the Capitol could lead to legal action against the Legislature for not making it safe for people with allergies or respiratory problems aggravated by secondhand smoke.

"We need to make this building, the people's building, smoke free," Calvey said.

A bill by Sen. Ben Robinson, D-Muskogee, to ban smoking from the Capitol passed the Senate last month.

But the chairman of the House committee, Rep. Lloyd Fields, D-McAlester, amended it to allow smoking in designated areas.

Rep. Russ Roach, D-Tulsa, said that would allow lawmakers to continue smoking in their offices if they are designated as smoking areas.

"There is no separate ventilation currently," Roach said.

He amended Fields' amendment to require designated smoking areas to be equipped with ventilation systems that are separate from the main ventilation system at the Capitol.

Smoking in offices

Lawmakers' offices and other areas of the building where smoking is permitted are tied to the Capitol's main ventilation system, allowing secondhand smoke to spread throughout the building.

Without tough ventilation standards, Roach said the legislation would be merely "the illusion that we've done something."

The measure's co-author, Rep. Ray Vaughn, R-Edmond, said the bill is an improvement over existing smoking rules. But Beitsch said the amendments are an attempt to maintain the status quo for smokers.

"It is totally possible that we find ourselves where we are right now," he said.

Vaughn said he plans to amend the measure on the House floor to strengthen the ventilation requirements.

Vaughn said he had planned to present a substitute measure to the committee to ban smoking in all state government buildings, including the Capitol. But he said the idea had no support among committee members.

"Perhaps it was a little aggressive for this committee," Vaughn said.

Lawmakers offered no estimate of how much the new standards would cost. The Legislature has spent more than $46,000 on air purifiers during the last several years to help clear the Capitol's air of secondhand smoke.

The Board of Health has passed rules that would ban smoking in most areas, including nursing homes and restaurants. But the rules may be rejected by the Legislature or the governor.