The Alaska Senate has voted 15-5 to approve a bill banning smoking in most public buildings across Alaska.<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 1, brought forward by Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, will prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and most workplaces. Micciche, speaking before the Senate voted, said he joined the Legislature to make Alaskans\u2019 lives better, and a healthy life without secondhand cigarette smoke is a better one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a critical public health issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Micciche said he views secondhand smoke – cigarette smoke inhaled by nonsmokers – as a safety issue for workers in places that allow smoking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it appropriate for the state here to require safe working conditions,\u201d he said, comparing the bill to the way the government regulates the safety of electrical appliances and automobiles.<\/p>\n
The bill has strict limits to its power. It doesn\u2019t apply in private homes, and it only applies indoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t ban smoking or the use of e-cigarettes. It just asks those users to take it outside,\u201d Micciche said.<\/p>\n
The statewide ban is similar to ones enacted in Juneau, Anchorage, Skagway and Haines, but it has some differences.<\/p>\n
One key exception is that smoking is still allowed aboard fishing boats at sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought it was a safety issue to force people from being out on deck,\u201d Micciche said.<\/p>\n
Tobacco shops with an enclosed, ventilated smoking area are also permitted under the bill, but marijuana shops are not included in that exemption.<\/p>\n
E-cigarettes are also included in the statewide ban, but not all local bans.<\/p>\n
Micciche said the bill is not intended to prevent municipalities from enacting stiffer restrictions on smoking; it\u2019s merely intended to provide a baseline level of protection for employees otherwise subject to secondhand smoke.<\/p>\n
While Micciche\u2019s bill received widespread support in the Senate, it wasn\u2019t universal. Among the five votes against the measure was Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, who said he views the bill as part of the government\u2019s continued erosion of personal rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all going to give up a little bit of what we are to allow the government to dictate what goes on in a private business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he hates smoking and secondhand smoke, \u201cbut I think we lose a little bit in terms of a little freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sens. John Coghill, R-North Pole; Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla; Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks; and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, were the other votes opposed to the bill. It now goes to the House for approval.<\/p>\n
\nIn the House on Wednesday, Representatives voted 38-0 (two members were absent) on bills affecting driver\u2019s licenses and the state\u2019s Violent Crimes Compensation Board.<\/p>\n
House Bill 77, brought forward by Rep. Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, calls for the Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles to indicate on driver\u2019s licenses whether a person has a \u201cnon-apparent disability.\u201d<\/p>\n
A non-apparent disability might include a mental disability or other factor that isn\u2019t immediately visible.<\/p>\n
The bill also requires police officers to undergo training in how to deal with people who have non-apparent disabilities. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf a person\u2019s disability is not recognized during an encounter with a law enforcement officer it may affect the outcome of that encounter,\u201d Thompson said in a prepared statement. \u201cThis bill is geared at fixing that encounter and ensuring that proper communication between the officer and individual. The hope of this bill is to reduce the potential for tragic encounters in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bill also inserts a provision in the state\u2019s driver\u2019s handbook explaining how drivers should interact with police. Questions pertaining to police interaction will be part of the driver\u2019s license test.<\/p>\n
House Bill 324, by Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, allows a physician assistant or advanced nurse practitioner to be appointed to the doctor\u2019s seat on the state Violent Crimes Compensation Board.<\/p>\n
The board was established in 1972 and oversees the distribution of financial awards to Alaskans who were the victims of violent crimes. The awards have paid for funeral expenses, counseling costs and income lost because of a person\u2019s death or injury.<\/p>\n
HB 324 and HB 77 now move to the Senate for consideration.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact reporter James Brooks at 419-7732 or james.k.brooks@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Alaska Senate has voted 15-5 to approve a bill banning smoking in most public buildings across Alaska. Senate Bill 1, brought forward by Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, will prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and most workplaces. Micciche, speaking before the Senate voted, said he joined the Legislature to make Alaskans\u2019 lives better, and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":426,"featured_media":28468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[230],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-28467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/426"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28467"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=28467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}