Armstrong calls for state smoking ban

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Already a familiar face in Texas politics these days, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is throwing his weight behind a statewide smoking ban - and supporters hope his star power will help their embattled cause. 

In a Thursday news conference at the Texas Capitol, Armstrong, a testicular cancer survivor, said an anti-smoking bill that's been filed in the Texas Legislature has widespread support among Texans.

"The first job of government is to protect the people and today, the people of Texas are sending a clear message to their elected representatives: They want protection from secondhand smoke," said Armstrong, founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a member of the Smoke-Free Texas advocacy group. "All of us at Smoke-Free Texas and the Lance Armstrong Foundation applaud the leadership of the legislators championing comprehensive smoke-free legislation. Texans expect and deserve safe, smoke-free places to earn their living and support their families."

The statewide smoking ban, sponsored for the second legislative session in a row by Denton Republican Rep. Myra Crownover, would prohibit smoking in all public and indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

Crownover's bill failed in 2007 after a bipartisan coalition of Texas House members attached an amendment that would have let property owners exempt their own properties - even in cities that already have ordinances in place, like Austin and Houston. The amendment, intended to gut the legislation, received overwhelming support from the House, which at the time was heavily Republican. It bill passed the House in its weakened form after several days of debate but never made it to the Senate floor for a vote.

Proponents of the bill say that employees have the right to work in smoke-free environments. They also say that patchwork anti-smoking ordinances in only some cities give unfair advantages to bars in smaller, nearby towns, like Cedar Park near Austin, and that a statewide ban would level the playing field.

Critics, however, say that the ban infringes on local control and denies property owners the chance to set their own rules for their own businesses. One of those critics includes the owner of a cigar lounge in Cedar Park. Heather Haddad opened the Fumee Cigar Lounge two months ago and is actively campaigning against the smoke-free Texas push.

"This is my livelihood," said Haddad. "I've spent the last two years scraping and battling to get this place open, and I would really hate to see it be destroyed because of something that the state did."

In 2007, legislators attached an exemption for cigar lounges, but the latest filing of the bill does not include the same provision.

"I'm selling a legal product and to tell me that my customers can't consume this legal product that I'm selling, it just blows my mind," said Haddad.

The failure of the measure last session is likely one reason they have called in the heavy weights, hoping that a push by the popular Armstrong - particularly in his comeback year, when the spotlight is on his attempt to win an 8th Tour de France - will help pass the bill.

Armstrong became a familiar face around the Capitol last session when he got behind a statewide bond initiative supporting cancer research in Texas. The bill was signed into law with huge support and overwhelming approved by voters.