POSTED: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 6:59pm
UPDATED: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 8:48pm
The Texas legislature is considering a smoking ban in public places. The bill has already passed the House and is now in the Senate for debate.
What do you think?
Read more below from the Associated Press.
After years of losing efforts to ban smoking in Texas public places, supporters may have found their winning move.
In a legislative session dominated by searing debates over a strained state budget, a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants was tucked neatly into a critical spending bill.
Previous sessions have seen proposed bans beaten down by arguments favoring the rights of business owners and smokers to not have the government meddling in their business and private affairs.
With just a week left in the session, supporters are counting on a promise that cutting down on smoking will save the state tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars spent treating patients with smoking-related diseases to help them pass it into law.