State Rep. Myra Crownover said she'll continue pushing for a statewide ban on smoking in workplaces, after the effort failed again in the Legislature this year.
"I think we've passed the tipping point," Crownover, R-Denton, said in an interview Friday. "Six years ago people thought secondhand smoke was maybe an inconvenience. Now they realize it's benzene, arsenic, particulate matter, and it's just not respectful of the person sitting next to you."
Crownover made the remarks after speaking at the United Way of Denton County 2011 campaign kickoff luncheon at the University of North Texas. She said an ordinance that city leaders are considering to ban smoking in Denton workplaces, including restaurants and bars, is the "second-best option."
"The right option is a statewide ban so that there's a level playing field for restaurants and bars [and] they don't have somebody outside the city limits that they have to be in competition with," she said.
Also, a quarter of the state's population lives in unincorporated areas, where residents lack the power to restrict smoking, Crownover said.
"That's why the Legislature needs to vote," she said. "That is the mechanism for rural areas to be protected from secondhand smoke."
States and cities across the U.S. have enacted similar smoking bans.
Opponents say business owners should have the right to choose whether to allow smoking in a free market. Others oppose the bans over concerns that they cause restaurants and bars to lose money.
She has been working to pass the ban for six years. The ban was stripped from a fiscal matters bill in the final days of the Legislature's regular session in May, and Crownover tried and failed to pass it during the special session this summer.
Crownover is serving her sixth two-year term in District 64 and will face re-election next year. She said she plans to file the bill again when the Legislature meets for its next regular session, in 2013.
LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.
