Senate Passes Smoking Ban

The Alabama Senate has again passed a bill to ban smoking in many work places and in many businesses. Democratic Sen. Vivian Davis Figures guided her bill through the Senate on a 21-8 vote Tuesday. Figures has passed similar legislation in the Senate before, only to have it die in the House. Figures is uncertain how it will fare in the House this time. Her bill bans smoking in most businesses, but bars and private clubs are excluded. It also does not affect smoking in homes, unless the homes provide day care services. Figures said she has been working for 16 years to reduce the public's exposure to secondhand smoke. She started by getting smoking stopped in the Statehouse in Montgomery.