Editorial for July 19, 2007 edition:


They let us down

The Pennsylvania Legislature’s final approval of a budget late Monday — 17 days after the old budget expired — is loaded with the goodies that a prosperous state is supposed to provide. There’s more funding for mass transit and the Pennsylvania Convention Center and great new health initiatives, to name just a few. The best part of it all — read our lips! — is there will be no tax increases.
The worst part of what happened this week, however, is what didn’t happen — passage of a statewide smoking ban.
All 36 members of the Senate who snuffed out what would have been a tough ban on the known killer should hang their heads in shame for their deadly actions. Because of them, people are going to die. Read this loud and clear, gentle readers, people are going to die.
Why? Because in the time it takes for the lawmakers to finally do what they should have done two generations ago — that is, pass a law that restricts smoking in public places — hundreds, maybe thousands of people, including many kids, will pick up a cigarette for the first time and begin a shortened lifetime of lethal puffs.
Pennsylvania’s state representatives and senators are supposed to be full-time legislators. As public servants, they certainly earn a full-time salary (even without their short-lived illegal pay raise two years ago) and benefits that are unmatched in the private sector — free health care, free car, insurance, additional payments for each day they are in session. They’re working conditions most people would die for, along with a vacation that lasts from mid-July to mid-September and frequent breaks the rest of the year.
If Pennsylvania state senators really want to build a legacy, they will cancel their undeservedly long recess, reconvene, and pass an all-inclusive smoking ban throughout the Keystone State. No exemptions, no ifs, no ands, no butts. ••

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