Ad Campaign Urges Pennsylvania Lawmakers to Stop Waffling and Pass Comprehensive Smok...( WASHINGTON March 5 -- The Tobacc...),Health

WASHINGTON, March 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund today launched a newspaper and radio advertising campaign urging key Pennsylvania lawmakers to stop waffling and pass a comprehensive smoke-free law that applies to all workplaces and protects all Pennsylvanians from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

The newspaper advertisements, which begin this week in papers across Pennsylvania, feature photos of six key legislators with a warning to readers that the lawmakers' decisions on pending smoke-free legislation "may be hazardous to your health." The radio advertisements, which begin today, call on the lawmakers to "stop waffling" on this important legislation, and urge Pennsylvanians to contact their legislators and ask them to protect everyone's right to breathe clean air. To view and listen to the ads, go to http://tobaccofreeaction.org/pa2008/.

The six lawmakers mentioned in the advertisements are:

-- House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese (D-Greene)

-- House Minority Leader Sam Smith (R-Jefferson)

-- Senator Chuck McIlhinney (R-Bucks)

-- Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow (D-Lackawanna)

-- Representative Robert Belfanti (D-Northumberland)

-- Representative Ron Miller (R-York)

Four of the legislators -- Sens. McIlhinney and Mellow, and Reps. Belfanti and Miller -- are members of a conference committee that will conduct hearings next week to resolve differences between House and Senate versions of smoke-free legislation. All four have refused to support comprehensive legislation that covers all workplaces, including restaurants, bars and casinos, and repeals current law that prohibits most local governments from enacting smoke-free laws.

House Leaders DeWeese and Smith also have refused to support comprehensive smoke-free legislation and - through their leadership positions - have d
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