Editorial: Ignoring the will of the people

Monday, April 14, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

Last November voters in Clark and Washoe counties approved an advisory ballot question that urged the Legislature to give local governments more control over the regulation of smoking. Fifty-seven percent of the voters in Clark County and 59 percent in Washoe County (which includes Reno), approved the ballot question to lessen the state's oversight. The referendum would have given local health districts the power to ban or severely limit smoking in public places with the exception of casinos. Even though the message from voters wasn't binding, it was resounding nonetheless. That is why it doesn't make sense that the Senate Judiciary Committee recently stripped from an anti-tobacco bill a provision that would have given local governments more control to regulate smoking in video arcades, supermarkets, convenience stores and all areas of a restaurant, exce pt for bar areas where minors aren't allowed.

The harmful and, sometimes, deadly effects from smoking are well-known. There is nothing wrong with state government setting a floor for tobacco regulation, but it should let local governments impose stricter standards if they desire. State lawmakers shouldn't meddle in issues that properly are the domain of local government, which is more responsive and better equipped than a part-time legislature. The lobbyists who represent cigarette companies obviously have the ears of some legislators. It's shameful that not enough senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee listened to the voices of the residents from the state's two most populous counties.

When the measure reaches the floor of the Senate, it should be amended to include the original, tougher language to reflect the will of the people. If that doesn't happen, then the Assembly should amend the Senate's bill to give the local governments the authority they need to regulate smoking. That scenario could create a standstill between the two houses, but at least it could create the kind of pressure on legislators to do the right thing.