Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine followed through on his threats Tuesday and vetoed legislation that would have eliminated the requirement that restaurants maintain no-smoking sections.
The bill would have required establishments to post “smoking permitted” signs at their entrances if they did away with the nonsmoking sections. Kaine unsuccessfully tried to amend the bill so it would totally ban smoking in bars and restaurants. His veto kills the measure for this year.
“I am not willing to sign legislation that would eliminate the current requirement for a nonsmoking section in restaurants,” said Kaine, who has directed his staff to come up with anti-smoking legislation for next year’s General Assembly session.
Supporters, however, argued market forces would cause most bars and restaurants to either keep their nonsmoking sections or voluntarily ban smoking.
“The governor has taken a misguided, my-way-or-the-highway stance on this issue, insisting on a complete, universal ban on public smoking instead of the common sense, market-oriented approach offered by this legislation,” House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, said.
Kaine also vetoed several other bills Tuesday. One measure would have ordered the state to study the castration of sex offenders. Another vetoed bill would have required a new jury to be impaneled in a case if the original jury could not agree on punishment for the convicted defendant.
Kaine vetoed a bill that would have increased disclosure requirements for participants in land-use decisions in Fairfax County. The measure would have required county officials and applicants requesting new comprehensive plan amendments and zoningchanges to disclose whether they have any financial relationships with each other. Kaine vetoed the bill because the House decided to keep a provision in it that exempted some transactions from the new disclosure requirements.
Fairfax County officials opposed the bill because they believe their existing disclosure laws rank among the toughest in the state.
