This week on the Missouri Minute: Carl Bearden and Woody Cozad discuss how the legislative session is going in Jefferson City, updates on the income tax fight in Missouri, and fighting smoking bans in Springfield, MO and across the state.
You can contact the hosts by emailing missouriminute@unitedformissouri.org or by sending us a message on twitter @United4MO or @Senator32 or by visiting http://www.cozadcompany.com/ or on facebook.
Hey Larry, may I ask a favor? Would you be willing to post the documentation discussing a study of buisness closeures attributed to the smoking ban in the various cities of Missouri? I suspect that closeures might be a result of economic downturn which coinsided with the passing of the smoking bans.
Hi Jacob! Good to hear from you again. Asking for data is always the right thing to do, and luckily there has been study on this topic since the 2007 smoking ban in Columbia. Aside from anecdotal evidence of all the billiards places closing within month of the ban (and they blamed the ban themselves), there was also a report done by the Federal Reserve Bank in Saint Louis. (http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/red/2008/01/Pakko.pdf). This report shows a negative effect across the board, even seasonally adjusted. This effect was especially negative for Bar owners who saw between a 6.5% and 11% loss due to the ban.
Another example is when O’Fallon passed their ban after the recession had already been in progress. It was after their near total ban that the bars saw 40% drop in business. It was not related to the economy as those impacts had already been felt. It was on top of that impact. At the end of the day, smoking bans hurt local economies, and do not curve smoking habits (people just smoke at home and do not spend $$$ while they are doing it). From a more political perspective, why should pro-smoking ban supporters be able to force their morality on private businesses? If you are offended by smoking, don’t go to that bar. Simple and solved.