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Greenleaf Clean Indoor Air Bill the Subject of Hearing
HARRISBURG -- Sen.
Stewart J. Greenleaf, R-Montgomery/Bucks was the lead-off witness for a public
hearing of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on Senate Bill 602, a
measure sponsored by the senator to ensure smokefree workplaces and public
places in the commonwealth.
Greenleaf thanked Committee
Chairman, Sen. Jake Corman, R-Centre, for providing a forum for discussion of
the legislation. Witnesses representing the State Health Department, public
health organizations, business associations, and a student group from Penn State
University presented testimony.
Senate Bill 602 would
prohibit smoking in all workplaces and public places, with exceptions for
private residences, private social functions, and tobacco shops. Other states
with comprehensive smokefree workplace laws include California, New York,
Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maine and Montana.
The states of Florida, Idaho and Utah also have laws restricting smoking in most
workplaces and public places.
Greenleaf noted that public
health groups estimate that thousands of nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke
on the job are at increased risk of lung cancer, heart attack, and respiratory
illnesses.
He pointed out that The
Society of Actuaries last month released a report concluding that the cost of
secondhand smoke exposure in terms of mortality, sickness, lost wages, reduced
services and other problems is approximately $10 billion annually in the United
States.
 
During a meeting of the Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Sept. 27, Sen.
Stewart Greenleaf introduces Senate Bill 602 to
ban smoking in public establishments.
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