CL – Legislature should have moved on statewide smoking bill

CL – Legislature should have moved on statewide smoking bill

The death of a proposed statewide smoking ban this week may not have excited much interest, but the bills’ demise is a loss for good public health policy and a comment on misplaced priorities .

This legislative session – the first with Republican majorities in both chambers – has been marked mostly by “red meat” political issues dear to the new GOP leadership. Charter schools, immigration and anti-abortion bills have proliferated, along with attempts to limit the power of the lone statewide Democratic officeholder, Attorney General Jim Hood .

But noticeably absent this session have been some just plain good government bills that serve the public.

Clarion Ledger
3/7/12