Group: Fund ban compliance

June 3, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

Advocates of Ohio’s workplace smoking ban are urging lawmakers to include funding in the $55.7 billion biennial budget to pay for efforts to ensure bars, restaurants and others comply.

Representatives of the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and other groups want funding retained at existing levels — about $1 million a year, they said — to cover enforcement costs.

“While nearly all Ohio businesses are in compliance, there is still a cost to making sure that businesses are following the law,” said Marianne Farmer, senior policy director for the American Cancer Society. “And we believe that responsibility for enforcement of the law rests with the state, like any other law.”

Ohio voters in 2006 approved the state’s Smoke Free Workplace Act, prohibiting smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants. Enforcement of the ban began the following year, after the state completed rules that outlined penalties for violations.

Since then, health officials have issued thousands of warnings and fines against businesses that have allowed customers to smoke.

During a press conference at the Statehouse on Thursday, Farmer and other smoking-ban advocates said lawmakers have included no funding in the current version of the state budget for future enforcement activities, including the operation of a complaint telephone service.

They also said cuts to local government would make it harder for county health departments to deal with violations.

Sen. Chris Widener, a Republican from Springfield and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said no final decision has been made on the enforcement-funding issue.

The Senate is expected to amend the budget bill and vote on its final version of the legislation next week.