Progress

Hot Damn!

Hennepin County commissioners have voted to partially roll back the county's nine-month-old smoking ban.

The new measure, which would exempt traditional bars from the ban, passed 4-3. Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, who had not indicated how he would vote, sided with bar owners and voted to limit the ban.

The issue, which simmered through the summer, pitted a small but vocal number of bar owners in Hennepin County against a larger cadre of anti-smoking advocates, including the well-financed Minnesota Partnership For Action Against Tobacco. Bar owners said the ban was economically crippling, particularly for bars located near Hennepin County's boundaries with counties that did not ban smoking.

But smoking ban proponents said exempting so-called traditional bars would be a step backward for the state's most populous county and would make lobbying for a statewide smoking ban more difficult.

Hennepin County was one of a handful of mostly Twin Cities local governments that adopted smoking bans in 2004 -- the county's ban actually took effect last March 31 -- and was by far the largest unit of government in Minnesota to do so. By amending the ban, Hennepin County became one of the few jurisdictions nationally to pass a smoking ban and then partially roll it back.

Tuesday's amendment would grant exemptions to bars, including in some cases those that are adjacent to -- or part of -- a food establishment.

The amendment, which will go into effect on Dec. 31, will make Hennepin's ordinance more similar to ordinances in Ramsey and Olmsted counties. Bars and private clubs with liquor sales that are more than 50 percent of their total net sales may apply for an exemption to the ordinance.

Under the newly approved amendment, all exemptions would expire July 31, 2007. {...}

I'm almost speechless that this happened. This is so contrary to what usually happens here in the People's Republic. I'm just stunned.

But there is a downside. Like Doug points out, this is only temporary, and, of course, the nannystaters will try to take the ban statewide. He's absolutely right about that. I'm also sure the Commission will also try to hassle bar and restaurant owners who file for exemption by delaying things, but still...this is progress and considering this is the home of nannystatism, I'll take what I can get for the time being.