Position

The Main Line Chamber of Commerce supports PA Senate Bill No. 246, Session of 2007, which is entitled Clean Indoor Air Act. The purpose of this act intended by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania is to protect the public health, the comfort of all persons and environments by prohibiting smoking in public places and workplaces.


Status

PA Senator Stewart Greenleaf introduced Senate Bill 246 on January 29 and is cosponsored by two Main Line senators Ted Erikson and Connie Williams.  The bill has been referred out of the Senate Public Health & Welfare Committee and is waiting to be placed on the Senate docket.


Explanation

In 2006, The Main Line Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Health Care Taskforce began tracking several different legislative actions from the City of Philadelphia to the State of Pennsylvania that supported a smoke-free environment for all workplaces. The committee gathered additional research materials from other cities and states across the nation who discussed potential smoke free environments.  The advocacy effort of the committee focused on the health and safety of employees of the food and beverage, as well as the hospitality industries, not the ideology of personal choices. Addressing this issue enhances the Chamber’s mission in the area of “Enhancing the quality of life along the Main Line.”

The Healthcare Taskforce began tracking Pennsylvania HB 1489, an act establishing the Clean Indoor Air Act which was locked in committee discussions. The purpose of that bill (as well as Senate Bill No. 246) was to protect public health, the comfort of all persons and the environment by prohibiting smoking in public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Without legislative action by year end, the proposed bill was retired.

During this discussion, a key business issue that was addressed was the cost to employers of employees who are exposed to second hand smoke. Within the food service and hospitality industries, those employees in environments with second hand smoke have experienced higher risks in heart disease and lung and breast cancer. Using resources like the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Actuaries, several documents of supporting data have been collected by the committee.

The following excerpt is from the American Lung Association website.

• Employers that hire smokers bear indirect costs, including more employee absenteeism, productivity losses ($92 billion) and increased early retirement due to smoking-related illness.

• Smoking attributable health care expenditures were $75.5 billion in 1998. During 1997-2001, these direct expenses plus $92 billion in productivity losses exceeded $167 billion annually.

• Workers have been awarded unemployment, disability and worker's compensation benefits for illness and loss of work due to exposure to secondhand smoke.


The Main Line Chamber of Commerce is addressing this issue as a component to workforce development within workforce safety.  The Main Line Chamber is concerned with any exemptions that may arise in proposed smoking ban legislation that may affect the integrity of the bill as presented.  Any exemptions to newly proposed smoking bans may be unfair to other businesses and would be unfair to the employees.  Regardless of where legislators stand on the issue of a smoking ban, we urge our elected officials to agree to no exemptions of any kind in any proposed bill. The Main Line Chamber of Commerce is seeking to build support of a similar bill in the House.