Smoking ban could affect farmers
Don Davis West Central Tribune
Published Tuesday, April 17, 2007

ST. PAUL — Hired hands may not be able to smoke in farm buildings if Minnesota lawmakers adopt a statewide smoking ban.

“This seems to be more overreaching than people think,” House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, said during a Monday committee hearing.

Seifert and Rep. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, said they fear farmers would have to enforce the smoking ban.

Bill author Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, said he was not sure the bill would affect farmers, although he did say the proposal is meant to protect all workers’ health. The bill would affect only workers in a building or vehicle with at least two people in it.

The House Finance Committee sent the smoking ban to the full House on a 24-14 vote, but many lawmakers say they will try to change it there.

The bill bans smoking in workplaces. However, it does allow local governments to exempt bars from the law.

The smoking ban was one of several issues debated Monday as legislators try to wrap up many of their bills.

The House today is set to begin passing its budget bills, but on Monday Majority Leader Tony Sertich, DFL-Chisholm, said representatives will not get to a tax bill until next week. On Friday, House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, DFL-Minneapolis, said the tax bill would pass this week.

Senators already have passed their tax and budget bills. Once the House follows suit, the two sides can negotiate what to send to the governor.

The Legislature must adjourn by May 21.

The smoking ban has been among the most-watched bills of the session, but Seifert said the ban would go further than most Minnesotans expect.

“A lot of people are thinking this is just restaurants, but it is far exceeding that,” Seifert said.

Mike Maguire of the American Cancer Society said since the bill employs “complaint-based” enforcement: If two workers were in a farm shed, one would have to complain before the other would be fined.

If a farmer or employee is riding in a tractor alone, the bill would not apply because it requires at least two people to be working in an enclosed space before kicking in.

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, encouraged a compromise so that bars can continue to allow smoking.

Charitable gambling proceeds from games in bars have slipped in cities and counties that already have banned smoking in bars, Rukavina said.

Rukavina said the ban would hurt union members and the poor, those who usually smoke.

“As far as I’m concerned, you can only pick on people so much,” Rukavina said. “You keep picking at them, picking at them. ... It is condescending.”

Also Monday:

- Senators preliminarily approved new regulations for amusement rides and operators. The bill would increase insurance regulations, require annual ride inspection and force operators to be trained.

- The House Taxes Committee discussed a bill to increase the tax about a dime per drink on alcoholic beverages. No vote was taken on the measure, which requires proceeds from the increased tax to be used to fund state alcohol-related costs.

- The Senate voted to require state officials, including legislators, to wait a year after leaving their state jobs before becoming lobbyists.