| The WV Legislature's bill to roll-back indoor smoking regulations in the Mountain State has risen from the ashes several times and is still on the docket as the legislative session ends.
The bill would take the regulatory responsibility away from health departments.
The latest version would give county commissions the authority to roll-back the indoor bans or put it to a vote.
The bill is being pushed by GOP legislators who have casinos and racetracks in their districts.
Supporters of the bill say health boards often don't consider economic impacts or people's rights when it comes to passing indoor smoking bans.
They also say this bill will bring more customers back to those businesses affected by indoor smoking bans, which they say could be a boost for business.
"We would be taking major steps back," Cabell Huntington Health Department Public Information Officer Elizabeth Ayers said, "not only in public health but in the overall image of West Virginia. We need to be moving forward."
"This is a health issue. It is not a political issue," Cabell County Commissioner Nancy Cartmill said. "As far as making it a responsibility of the county commission, that kind of bothers me because then you get politics into it, and we would get pressure from both sides and it would just become a political football. I just think it should stay with the health department because they certainly are the experts."
Opponents say the second-hand smoke of employees is a significant issue being ignored.
WV has the highest rate of smokers in the USA, according to most studies.
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