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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Dan Frankel |
  
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Frankel bill would lift ban on local smoking laws
HARRISBURG, June 11 – State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic Delegation in the House, plans to introduce legislation to allow local governments in Pennsylvania to enact smoking bans stronger than a bill that recently passed the General Assembly (S.B. 246).
"The compromise smoking ban that is heading to the governor's desk will allow only Philadelphia to have a clean indoor air law stronger than state law. The new law will continue to deny that authority to local elected officials who represent seven out of eight Pennsylvanians," Frankel said.
Frankel's bill would remove the language in S.B. 246 that bans local governments other than Philadelphia from enacting and enforcing their own smoking ordinances.
"I reluctantly supported the compromise bill that will soon become law, because it is a step forward on protecting citizens' health in public places. However, it is considerably weaker than the version the House passed by more than a two-to-one margin, which did not ban stronger local protections," he said.
"Since the Commonwealth is not yet willing to pass clean indoor air protections as strong as our citizens deserve, it's time to give communities like Allegheny County and Scranton the authority to protect their residents against secondhand smoke and rein in the health-care costs that result from this preventable hazard."
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