Legislators need to pass no-smoking bill

To the editor,

With the state legislators headed to Juneau, it is a good time to remind them that there are certain tasks we expect an elected official to be able to do. Among those are diligence in research, ethics is accountability, and action on their principles.

Senate Bill 1 was introduced on January 21, 2015. Nearly a dozen legislators stated that it was a priority for them and there was bipartisan support. In fact, currently 7 Republicans and 4 Democratic representatives are co-sponsors of the bill. Senate Bill 1 is a bill that calls for no smoking in all publicly-accessible areas of Alaska. People are sick and tired of having to walk through clouds of other people’s vices to be able to eat in a restaurant, or shop for food, or pay a cell phone bill. People with emphysema and COPD suffer when they have to walk through the secondhand smoke. Over 90 percent of people nationwide are in favor of no smoking laws, despite the fact nearly 17 percent of Americans over the age of 18 smoke according to a 2015 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not only does Senate Bill 1 enjoy support from both sides of the aisle, but no smoking regulations even have support from individuals who smoke.

Politicians like to dole out promises as much as dentists enjoy handing out tooth brushes. For going on three years, we’ve been told that they would complete debate on the bill and bring it to a vote. Yet it remains in the Senate finance committee, waiting for its floor vote of the full Senate. Why?

What is in the bill that warrants debate so extensively that cannot have been hashed it out in the 365 days since the bill was introduced? The bill was a prefiled bill last year, meaning the legislators had an entire session to debate it, yet it remains in committee. It’s time to take action. Don’t tell us let special interests from the tobacco and vaping industries make you back away from your principals – voters expect you to be stronger than that to be trusted with our votes.

SB1 is about public health. It is about the ability of non-smokers to engage in their lawful activities without having to enjoin smokers in consuming carcinogens. Stand by your word. A bill was filed with multiple co-sponsors and support from both sides of the aisle. It’s a bill that better protects the health of Alaskans and our visitors. It’s time to take the right action – pass Senate Bill 1.

Christian M Hartley

Houston

The author is the lung health coordinator for American Lung Association in the Mat-Su.

This letter has been corrected from its original print version, which said the bill was in the House finance committee rather than the Senate.