Statewide smoking ban may be coming

The dominoes have been tumbling in the last couple of years: Six Minnesota counties and 10 individual cities now have some kind of smoking ban.

And Thursday, members of both DFL-controlled houses of the legislature will announce they're introducing bills to spread the smoking ban statewide.

Even smoking-ban opponents like Mark Wernimont, who used to sell air-filtration systems to bars, admit the climate has changed.

?I'm not surprised,? he said. ?This time, they probably have the numbers.?

The road toward a statewide ban has been a rough one for some bar owners and employees.

Studies by Minneapolis and Hennepin county suggested the sporadic implementation of smoking bans hurt neighborhood bars ? especially bars on the border of municipalities without bans.

?I lost at least 50 percent of my business,? bar owner Sherm Junker, of Sherm?s Bar, told KARE11 last year.

Smoking-ban supporters have said all along that a statewide ban would level the playing field.

?I believe that some business have suffered, and that's really unfortunate,? said Kim Bartmann, the owner of Bryant-Lake Bowl.

Bartmann has been a major supporter of smoking bans; the signing ceremony for the Minneapolis ban was held in her bar.

She said her employees deserve to breathe the same air as people who work in offices. And, she said, in her case, the smoking ban has been good for business.

?Food business has probably gone up 15 percent or so,? she said. ?Overall, our business has gone up about 10 percent.?

Mark Wernimont said a statewide ban should include some kind of compensation for people who lost jobs because the sporadic smoking bans effectively pushed business away from smaller bars.

?(Lawmakers) certainly should care for the health and welfare of people who are being impacted negatively,? he said.

If the legislature does pass a statewide smoking ban, Gov. Pawlenty has said he will sign it. Though his spokesman said the governor would prefer a law with exemptions for private clubs, such as a VFW.

By Scott Goldberg, KARE 11 News

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