DON’T BOTHER THE LEGISLATURE WITH THE FACTS

February 6, 2006

“If a fly gets into the throat of one who is fasting, it is not necessary to pull it out” – Ayatollah Khomeni    

SO THE FOLKS AT THE STATE CAPITOL ARE FINALLY trying to ban smoking in restaurants in one form or another. But it looks like by the time they pass a bill (please let it happen this year), the only place you won’t be allowed to smoke is your own home or a restaurant that doesn’t have a liquor license with seating capacity in excess of 850 persons, is on 42 acres of land in Conejos County, and only serves mashed potatoes and fried okra for a dollar two ninety-eight. Give Me A Break! 

Who’s opposed? John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver and formerly Governor Elect of Colorado, vetoed a proposal in Denver cuz he believed the state should do it. Certain groups apparently convinced him that the restaurants near the city’s border would lose customers to those places across the county line. He was partially right. The state of Colorado should do it. But that shouldn’t have relieved Denver of the responsibility to pass the same or a similar ordinance.  

Literally thousands of cities and towns across the country, and at last count 17 states and the District of Columbia have banned smoking in restaurants. Is Colorado going to be # 18 or number 48? Nowhere has it been reported that there has been a mass exodus of smokers. Sure, there are some diehards that will go elsewhere for a cigarette if the sports bar or tavern they usually toss down a shot and a beer with their 8 am cigarette cuts off the smoking. But how many and for how long? No one knows for sure, but I know some pool halls in Fort Collins that cried about that city’s ban, but now a large percentage of the customers are back, plus the folks that never went there because of the smoke, are now in there eating the great grub. And I gotta tellya. There are some fine smoky joints that serve some fine grub and I can’t wait for the day the Governor signs The Bill. 

What about the 176,000 restaurant employees in this state? What rights do they have? They aren’t as free as the customers to choose where their job is cuz most of ‘em are younger workers who can’t find jobs in their chosen profession.  

There is a great Mexican eatery at 1910 Wadsworth Blvd, called Gregorio’s. Gregorio Banuelos, the deliteful proprietor and I have several conversations about smoking. He told me that he wished he could cut it off cuz not one of his employees, most if not all are family members, were smokers. But he feared that business would be lost and he didn’t want to take the risk. Both of us had talked to Steve Burkholder, Lakewood’s mayor, but to no avail. Steve had similar concerns to those of Mayor Hickenlooper.   

Sometime last winter Gregorio switched the smoking section to the front room and the non-smoking to the back room, that being the larger of the two rooms. There was a small price to pay for non-smokers who had to walk thru the smoking section to get to the non-smoking section, but it was worth it cuz the back room stayed pretty much smoke-free.  

Last March G and I were having dinner there. Gregorio came by and we chatted. I sed to Gregorio that the back room was packed and there was not one customer in the front room. Then I commented, “It’s time. Just go put a notice on the door and say effective in two weeks we will be smoke-free.” He kinda shook his head and sed, “Well, maybe I will do that.”  

A week later I came in for lunch with a client and there was the sign on the door. Ceptin it sed, “NO SMOKING”. Gregorio came rushing over to my table and sed, “See, I did it! No notice, just right now. Why should I give them notice to do what I want and what is best for my employees?” He was so proud of himself (and I was tickled for him) that he would greet every customer at the door with, “We are a non-smoking restaurant!”  Ask Gregorio how many customers he’s lost. He’ll count them on one hand. 

The Facts, ma’am, just the facts: 

• 61% of Colorado Restaurant Association members who responded to the CRA poll sed that smoking should be banned in all restaurants.

• The list of states that ban smoking include: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

• The National Restaurant Association and most state restaurant associations endorse the banning of smoking in their own member’s businesses. Hello? Is anyone listening to the people whose livelihood depends on that business?

• Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights reports that 4,800 municipalities now have smoke-free workplaces, restaurants or bars.

• The American Lung Association gives Colorado a grade F for Smoke-free Air, a grade F for Youth Access, a grade D for Cigarette Tax, but surprisingly a grade A for Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending. Where is our consistency?

• The American Lung Association reports that food service workers have a 50% greater risk of dying from lung cancer than the general population. They also report that secondhand smoke causes an estimated 38,000 deaths among non-smokers each year.

• A 2005 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans support smoke-free air policies including a ban on smoking in restaurants.

• 46 states restrict smoking in public places. 48 states restrict smoking in government buildings. 31 states restrict smoking in private work places (not Colorado).

• Why does the state of Colorado restrict smoking in public buildings but not restaurants? Is it that they don’t want smoke in their offices, but it’s OK elsewhere? Yes, I’m talking about the legislators.

• Both New York and California report significant increased restaurant sales since smoking bans went into effect. The theory is that more people who wouldn’t eat out because of smoke went out to eat after the bans were put into effect.

• In the U.S. there are 12.5 million employees in 920,000 locations, all of whom are affected by second-hand smoke.

• According to the Colorado Restaurant Association, there are 9,500 foodservice locations in Colorado employing 176,000 workers.

I’m not always impressed by estimates of numbers of deaths or illnesses. If you added all the numbers of people estimated to be killed by smoke, drinking, drugs, car accidents, heart attacks, strokes, and all the rest, the population of the U.S. will be minus 170 million by the year 2050. So I don’t buy a lot of them stats. Besides, I got a C- in economic statistics but only cuz the professor owed me big time. 

I could spend days and days collecting statistics, but that shouldn’t be necessary. The only question legislators should ask is, “Is it time to ban smoking in ALL eating establishments in Colorado? Who will be adversely affected?” I would be naïve to say that no business would be affected, but which ones, how many, and to what extent? And then you need to ask, “Does the health of the almost 5 million citizens of this state outweigh those concerns? What about the 176,000 workers who receive that second-hand smoke?”   

Now that you have the answer, support the legislation to ban smoking in ALL food service establishments. Listen to both sides and do what’s right.   

Cya.

In his real life Jay Fox is a CPA. He offers all kinds of good tax planning advice, financial calculators and the latest in tax news at his website: www.jayfoxcpa.com. He just writes this column for the money.