Iowa's smoking ban has been in force for only two months, but local lawmakers have indicated that they may be tinkering with it when they return to the state Capitol next year.
Lawmakers serving Webster County acknowledged Thursday evening that problems are emerging with the way the law is enforced.
State Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City, told a forum audience that he sees little chance of the law being repealed. But he said he hopes legislators refine it.
During the same forum state senators Daryl Beall, D-Fort Dodge, and Rich Olive, D-Story City, said they hope the possibility of an increased gasoline tax is discussed. Boosting that tax, they said, would provide money for completing U.S. Highway 20 as a four-lane route all across the state.
State Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, joined Bailey, Beall and Olive for the forum, which was part of the Mid Iowa Community Development Conference held at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites in Fort Dodge.
During the event, the lawmakers learned that leaders of Belmond in Wright County were reprimanded by state officials for not having enough ''No Smoking'' signs posted on the Municipal Building.
And Bailey noted that Iowa State University spent $100,000 for those signs.
''The rules are coming out much different than the intent,'' Olive said.
Tjepkes said he believes lawmakers need to re-examine the law.
Beall said the ''real enforcement'' ought to be directed against businesses that are blatantly ignoring it.
The law, which took effect July 1, bans smoking in just about every place where people work. Gaming floors of casinos are the only places which are exempt. Beall said the law protects 95 percent of Iowa workers from secondhand smoke.
Beall and Olive voted for it. Bailey and Tjepkes voted against it.
Early this year, Gov. Chet Culver signed into law a package of fee increases to provide more money for a highway program called Transportation Improvements Move the Economy for the 21st Century or TIME-21. Tjepkes, the top Republican on the House Transportation Committee, played a key role in developing that law.
''TIME-21 is an example of a lot of good bipartisan work,'' Tjepkes said.
An increase in the state's gasoline tax wasn't included in the bill. Culver ruled out a gas tax hike before the Legislature convened in January.
''I hope the fuel tax is on the agenda for this session of the Legislature,'' Beall said.
Olive said a gasoline tax increase of 3 to 4 cents a gallon wouldn't be ''unreasonable.''
The state's gasoline tax is now 21 cents per gallon.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
