St Louis County Smoking Ban

In the county - every bill has to be voted on and passed two times in order to become law. The Council voted and passed a smoking ban last Tuesday....or did they. The bill they passed has Casino and limited bar exemptions. They earlier voted on a bill that did not contain those exemptions and it did not pass. They used the same bill, added the exemptions and voted again passing it. Since they actually killed the bill in the first vote they couldn't use the same bill and vote again on it. They plan to intoduce a new bill and vote on next Tuesday. The new bill will have modifications. What changes those will be is still unknown. First we have a bill that exempts the casinos. Then we have a bill that exempts no one. Then we have a bill that exempts casinos and some bars. Now there is yet another bill that will up for a vote. In yet another twist, since they are out of time to get two votes in before the deadline. They will have to get a court order to get it on the ballot in November.

The yes votes for the bill included Councilman Stenger. His district is the one that will be the most affected by passage. It contains almost 25% of the bars in St Louis County that is divided into 7 districts. It would seem that he has the most to lose by voting for a smoking ban. We highly suggest that if you haven't called him, do it ASAP. His direct number is 314-615-5442.

Tony Palazzolo