USA: smoking ban for state buildings approved by Tennessee Senate

Photo: USA: smoking ban for state buildings approved by Tennessee Senate

The bill, which still must be approved in the House, would ban smoking in Tennessee's 528 buildings - 172 state-owned and 356 maintained and operated by the state. Even areas of the legislative office complex where smoking is now allowed would be covered by the ban.

Smoking bills have traditionally struggled in Tennessee, which is among America's top tobacco producers. But the 2004 harvest of 65 million pounds (29.25 million kilograms) was about half the output of a decade earlier, and proposals for indoor smoking bans have been gaining momentum recently.

Lawmakers could smoke in the House and Senate chambers until 2004 following Capitol renovations and redecoration that included removing smoking residue from walls and furnishings.

Sen. Roy Herron, a Democrat who is the bill's main sponsor, said the proposal would promote a healthy work environment, the AP reports.

Legislative analysts estimate that posting no-smoking signs in all 528 state buildings would cost $13,200 (Ђ10,280) at $25 (Ђ19.47) a sign. Advocates say that's a small price to pay to prevent health problems resulting from secondhand smoke, and House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, a Democrat, has said he will not let the estimated cost kill the bill in his chamber.