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03-29-16
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03-29-16
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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 29, 2016 <br />percent of a county's population was covered by a comprehensive ban saw a twenty (20) percent <br />reduction in heart attacks, an eleven (11) percent reduction in pulmonary disease. When the <br />country of Scotland decided to implement comprehensive clean air, they saw a seventeen (17) <br />percent reduction of heart attacks and coronary infection. In just the first year when New York <br />passed a clean air ordinance they saw an eight (8) percent decrease in hospital admissions for <br />heart attacks and a $56 million dollar decrease in hospital costs. These are statistics but every <br />one of those numbers is a human being. So when you have a twenty (20) percent reduction in <br />heart attacks that means many did not have a heart attack that would have without a clean air <br />ordinance. The health benefits of clean air are undeniable and we expect to see the same results <br />in South Bend. <br />Some people make the argument that it is an adult's decision in where they work and where they <br />patronize businesses. However, we don't use the same logic when a business or factory has <br />dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. We don't just tell workers that you're an adult you can <br />make a choice to work in that factory and we don't tell members of the public that if they're <br />going to be shopping at a store with dangerous levels of carbon monoxide that they can simply <br />make a choice as an adult. We know the dangers of these chemicals and we have laws that <br />protect the public and laws that protect workers from things like carbon monoxide. <br />Again, South Bend is far from the first city to look into a comprehensive air ordinance and the <br />vast majority of economic research concludes there is no negative economic impact to a clean air <br />ordinance. These studies are academic, peer reviewed, and published in highly respected <br />journals. There are some other tobacco industry funded outlier studies that say the opposite but <br />the vast majority of research regarding economics is that these ordinances do not have an effect <br />on business. <br />There is a recent CDC study from 2013, which was the most comprehensive study to date on this <br />issue, which looked at 216 cities in eight (8) states without statewide smoke -free air laws. This is <br />similar to the situations South Bend would be in if we were to adopt this ordinance. The study <br />stated unequivocally that smoke free laws did not have an adverse economic impact and it <br />provided a small economic benefit to cities in one (1) state. This study cited over twenty -two <br />(22) individual studies that confirmed that exact same research. More importantly, smoke -free <br />laws improve both employee and general population health. <br />The Indiana State Department of Health estimates the cost of secondhand smoke at $20 million <br />dollars for the City of South Bend on annual basis. <br />Other communities who have adopted smoke free ordinances have had no trouble enforcing them <br />because primarily these ordinances are self - enforcing. People follow the law and as a result <br />citations are really not needed. For example, the City of Indianapolis had over four hundred <br />(400) affected establishments and in the first year they issued around three (3) citations. When <br />laws are passed people follow the law. For South Bend, a volunteer phone -line established by <br />Smoke Free St. Joe will help take away any burden from Code Enforcement. If a number of calls <br />are received regarding an establishment, Code Enforcement will go take a look at the property. If <br />a violation is found, the first penalty is simply a warning. If that business is only open after 5:00 <br />p.m. they will coordinate the Police Dept. potentially using the volunteer police officers to go out <br />and make a check to enforce. Again over time these ordinances are self - enforcing. Both Code <br />Enforcement and the Police Department sent a letter stating they were comfortable with the <br />ordinance and its expectations of them and that letter is on file in the City Clerk's Office. <br />Indiana Code has given municipalities an express right to pass an ordinance that is more <br />comprehensive than the state law. Many ordinances have been challenged in the past due to their <br />exemptions, to prevent such a challenge this bill contains no exemptions. We are going to protect <br />all workers and were going to protect the public everywhere. Any sort of indoor workplace will <br />be covered by clean air policy. Some may cite the Evansville case from 2011, but their ordinance <br />was overturned because they provided exemptions without stating good reason to do so and they <br />did not include a severability clause. This bill does have a severability clause to preserve the <br />remainder of the ordinance if it is challenged and any provision is found unconstitutional only <br />that provision would be invalidated. This ordinance was reviewed extensively by national and <br />state legal experts and found this ordinance is valid. <br />3 <br />
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