While the highly anticipated vote on the citywide smoking ban was delayed at Monday night?s council meeting, both sides continue to maneuver to tally votes and win support.
And though advocates and opponents argue they have the upper hand, many believe the fate of smoking bill could come down to the support of a yet-to-be-selected council member.
“If Stephanie Rawlings Blake becomes City Council president, as it appears, then the person who replaces her on the Council could be the deciding vote,” City Council Member Robert Curran said.
Curran, D-3rd District, said he had enough votes Monday night to pass the bill; however, a quirk in the city charter would have sent the bill back to the council after Dixon departs but before the vacancy on the council can be filled, he said.
Curran, who sponsored the bill, said that development might leave him a vote short.
“I need eight physical bodies to pass the bill,” he said.
Curran said the bill would remain in committee until February. Johanna Neuman, policy advocate for the Maryland Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, said that she thought bill the would pass, but that the new council member would face heavy lobbying.
“I think whoever replaces Stephanie Rawlings Blake is going to be facing a lot pressure,” she said.
Vernon “Ollie” Oliver, president of the Baltimore Licensed Beverage Association, said he felt the bill was not a done deal.
“I don?t think they really have the votes right now to pass the bill right,” he said, in transit to lobby Council Member Mary Pat Clarke, D-14th District. “If they do, the small bars will go out of business; people will just go to the county,” he said.
Curran said a memo circulated by the Maryland Licensed Beverage Association arguing that Baltimore is being “sacrificed” to pass a statewide smoking ban was unfair.
“The only people being sacrificed are the 200 people who die from secondhand smoke,” in the state annually, he said.
In June, Howard County passed a bill banning smoking in public places; the law takes effect next June.
Montgomery and Prince George?s counties also have passed smoking bans.
But Ron Furman, owner of the Fells Point bar Max?s on Broadway, said that if the bill passes, his losses will be heavy.
“I think I will be looking at losing 30 to 40 percent of business,” he said. “A lot of our customers are cigar smokers and cigarette smokers.”
