Project History

The US Surgeon General’s Report (1972) and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CDCP) in 1999 reported extensive evidence demonstrating that exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is causally linked to cancer and other serious health consequences among children and adults.  In 1998 the courts awarded Texas a large settlement from the major tobacco companies for annual payments to the state to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco use.  Texas’ victory in federal court helped clear the way for a 46-state Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 that allowed additional states to collect annual payments from the tobacco industry.

The Texas Tobacco Prevention Initiative (TTPI), coordinated by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), was initiated in FY2000 with funding allocated by the Texas Legislature from the Texas Tobacco Settlement. In the absence of strong state anti-smoking laws, it was necessary to look to municipalities for the elimination of exposure to second-hand smoke.  The Texas database and reporting system, initiated in 2000, was designed to identify and describe existing and emerging municipal ordinances that restricted exposure to secondhand smoke in Texas municipalities. It has been continuously maintained and expanded for the last 20 years. 

This database was initially started with the analysis of ordinances already in place in 2000.  Initial protocols were established to guide data collection, coding, and analyses.  These have been refined over time to reflect changes in national and state classifications of variables, as well as local, regional, and state needs.

Features of the TDSHS Database and Website

An accompanying website was developed in the mid-2000s as a means for generating publicly available education and evaluation reports to inform users of the status, scope, and nature of their current ordinance and changes over time. Also included were provision for data such as census data to be used for secondary analyses for numerous studies. More recently, provisions were made to include variables for tracking of variables associated with e-Cigarette coverage in the Code of Ordinances.

On-line website users may gather additional information about Texas municipalities statewide and by the city, county, and public health region in which they are located.  Additionally, the most recent annual reports may be found on-line on this website.  Reports based on census data and select population characteristics of those living in each category are provided.  In response to growing concerns about the health hazards associated with e-cigarettes and vaping, information also is provided about Texas municipalities that included e-cigarettes in their ordinance codes. 

The most recent annual report drawn from this database describes changes in the smoke-free status of Texas municipalities by their overall smoke-free status or coverage in selected areas, identify the scope and nature of changes in Texas municipal populations, and provide information of changes across time of the percentage of the Texas population living in municipalities protected by 100% smoke-free ordinances across all five settings.  The annual reports also demonstrate how dynamically local ordinance contents have changed in response to initiatives conducted by the TDSHS Tobacco Program, often in conjunction with local, regional, state, and national initiatives. 

Progress in the development of local laws to protect the public from second-hand smoke since 2000 has been widespread and rapid, affecting those residing in cities of all sizes and locations.  Since Texas municipalities often make on-going changes in the scope and nature of their ordinances, this database is designed to provide interested groups with information needed to sort and present to interested entities (e.g., news media, city, county and regional stake holders, legislators, health care providers and planers, researchers and others) information about the status of municipalities that are recently smoke-free and those who continue to maintain 100% smoke-free status.  Additionally, with the increasingly widespread advent of e-cigarette coverage, those Texas cities with such coverage are included in the Code of Ordinances.

Project Publications

Gingiss, P.M., Boerm, M. Influence of funding cuts on Texas school tobacco programs. Journal of School Health 2009; 79(8):361-8.

Gingiss, P.M., Boerm, M., Huang, P., Hermer, L. Smoke-free ordinances in Texas worksites, restaurants, and bars, 2000-2007. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2009; 36(2)91-94.

Boerm, M, Gingiss, P.M., Roberts-Gray, C.  Association of the presence of state and district health education policies with school tobacco prevention program practices.  Journal of School Health.  2007; 77(4):207-214.

Roberts-Gray, C., Gingiss, P.M., Boerm, M.  Evaluating school capacity to implement new programs. Journal of Evaluation and Research: Evaluation and Program Planning. 2007; 30(3), 247-257.

Gingiss, P., Boerm, M., Roberts-Gray, C. Follow-up comparisons of intervention and comparison schools in a state tobacco prevention and control initiative. Journal of School Health.  2006; 76(3):98-103.

Gingiss, P.M., Roberts-Gray, C., Boerm, M. Bridge-It: A System for Predicting Implementation Fidelity for School-Based Tobacco Prevention Programs. Prevention Science. 2006; 7(2), 197-207.

Published International and National Proceedings and Presentations

Gingiss, P.M. & Alastuey, L.  (July, 2007).  After the Storms: Youth reports of their interpersonal exposure and mental health status in the aftermath of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. American School Health Association's 81st Annual School Health Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.  This report addressed patterns of increases of youth high risk behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol use and teen pregnancies  7-9 months after the Hurricanes struck the respective communities.

Gingiss, P.M. Predicting implementation of school-based prevention programs: Presented to the CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, University of Western Ontario, May, 2007.

Roberts-Gray, C. & Gingiss, P.M.  (May, 2006).  Predicting and measuring implementation success of school programs to promote health and prevent disease.  Proceedings of the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, San Antonio, TX.

Gingiss, P.M. & Boerm, M. (December, 2005).  Health insurance coverage for tobacco dependence: Texas survey of managed care organizations.  Proceedings of the 133rd Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Philadelphia, PA. 

Gingiss, P.M. & Boerm, M. (October, 2005). Influence of state resource allocation decisions on the status of school tobacco programs.  Proceedings of the 79th Annual American School Health Association Conference. Burbank, CA.  

Gingiss, P.M.  (October, 2005).  Tracking local ordinances: The Texas web-based system.  Proceedings of the 2005 National Tobacco Control Program Meeting sponsored by the Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA.

Roberts-Gray, C., Gingiss, P.M., Huang P. & Boerm, M. (October, 2005).  Using the Internet to expand the boundaries of evaluation utilization: Evaluation of smoking restrictions in municipal ordinances in Texas. Crossing Borders, Crossing Boundaries: 2005 Joint CES/AEA (American Evaluation Association), Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Gingiss, P.M., Huang, P., Boerm, M.C., Sline, R., & Roberts-Gray, C. (May, 2005). “SHS Ordinance Tracking System and Website for Dynamic Report Generation.” Proceedings of the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, Chicago, IL.

Gingiss, P.M., Roberts-Gray, C., & Boerm, M.C. (May, 2005). “Predictive measures of school capacity to implement tobacco programs: Four-year follow-up.” Proceedings of the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, Chicago, IL.

Hermer, L.D. & Gingiss, P.M. (December, 2003). Identifying and Revising Problematic Language in Texas Municipal SHS Ordinances. Houston, TX: University of Houston.  Proceedings of the 2003 National Conference on Tobacco or Health, December 10-12, 2003, Boston, MA.

Boerm, M.C. & Gingiss, P.M. (October, 2003). “A Comparison of School-Wide Tobacco Education Coverage in Intervention and Non-Intervention Schools.” Proceedings of the American School Health Association 77th National School Health Conference, October 15-19, 2003, El Paso, TX.

Gingiss, P.M. & Roberts-Gray, C. (2003). “Bridge-It: An Assessment Model for Forecasting Likelihood of Successful Implementation of School-Based Tobacco Programs.” 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, August 5, 2003, Helsinki, Finland.

Gingiss, P.M., Roberts-Gray, C., & Boerm, M.C. (2003). “Application of a Systems Model for Evaluation of Community Capacity and Infrastructure for Program Implementation and Sustainability.”  12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, August 7, 2003, Helsinki, Finland.

Boerm, M.C. & Gingiss, P.M. (2003). “A Comparison of Changes in Tobacco Control Practices in Intervention and Non-Intervention Schools from Baseline (2000) to Follow-up (2002).” Houston, TX: University of Houston.  12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, August 5, 2003, Helsinki, Finland.

Boerm, M.C., Gingiss, P.M., & Roberts-Gray, C. (2002). “School Health Education Profile Tobacco Module (SHEP-TM): Adaptation and use to assess the extent of implementation of the CDC recommendations for ‘Best Practice’ in school tobacco programs.” Houston, TX: University of Houston.  Proceedings of American School Health Association 76th National School Health Conference, October 2-6, 2002, Charlotte, NC.

Roberts-Gray, C. & Gingiss, P.M. (2002). “’Don’t know’ responses: Do they inform or undermine the process evaluation?” Houston, TX: University of Houston. Proceedings of the 2002 Annual Conference of the American Evaluation Association, November 6-10, 2002, Washington, DC.

Gingiss, P.M. & Roberts-Gray, C. (2002). “Diagnosis of school readiness to successfully implement tobacco prevention and control programs.” Houston, TX: University of Houston. Proceedings of the  American Public Health Association 130th Annual Meeting, November 9-13, 2002, Philadelphia, PA.

Menefee, D.S., Gingiss, P.M., Scott, R., & Huang, P. (2002). “Expanding the CDC/NCI coding indexes to define local ETS ordinances: Texas baseline analysis of ETS exposure restrictions.” Houston, TX: University of Houston. Proceedings of  the American Public Health Association 130th Annual Meeting, November 9-13, 2002, Philadelphia, PA.

Gingiss, P.M., Gonzalez, C., Haley, M., Sneden, G., & Mitchell, A.J. (2002). “Tobacco prevention and control in West Texas: A comparison of five community infrastructures and readiness to implement lead programs.” Houston, TX: University of Houston. Proceedings of the 2002 National Conference on Tobacco or Health, November 19-21, 2002, San Francisco, CA.

Gingiss, P. M.  “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Local Tobacco Control Organizations. Dr. David Ahrens, Moderator. Panel at: 2002 National Conference on Tobacco or Health, November 19-21, 2002, San Francisco, CA. 

Gingiss, P., Boerm, M. (December, 2001).  The link between health instruction policies and practices:  Lessons learned from Tobacco Education Initiatives.  Texas Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX.

Sneden, G., Gottlieb, N., Gingiss, P.M. Huang, P.  (November, 2001).   Beyond surveillance - creating an evaluation and surveillance infrastructure for population-based tobacco prevention and control programs. Proceedings of the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga.

Boerm, M.C., Gingiss, P.M., Huang, P., Alo, C., & Kropp, R.  (November, 2001).  Status of implementation of tobacco use prevention education (TUPE) in secondary schools in Texas.  Proceedings of the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga.

Gonzales, C.A., Gingiss, P.M., Roberts-Gray, C., Murray, R., Huang, P., Satterwhite-Condon, D.  (November, 2001).  Community tobacco-related attitudes and practices:  A comparison of program coordinators’ and opinion leaders’ views. Proceedings of the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga.

Menefee, D.S., Scott, R., Gingiss, P.M., Huang, P.  (November, 2001).  Profile of local tobacco worksite ordinances in the absence of state policy regulations.  Proceedings of the American Public Health Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, Ga.

Boerm, M., Gingiss, P.M., Huang, P., Alo, C., & Kropp.  (October, 2001).  Baseline
assessment of tobacco use prevention education (TUPE) in Texas secondary schools.
Proceedings of the 75th Annual School Health Conference of the American Schoo
Health Association.  Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Gingiss, P., Gottlieb, N.H., Huang, P., Gail G. Sneden. (August, 2000).  Triangulation of Data Methods and Sources for Tracking Implementation of the Texas Tobacco
Settlement.  Proceedings of the 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health.  Chicago.

Gottlieb, N., Huang, P., Gingiss, P., et al.  (August, 2000).  Mobilizing Partnerships for Surveillance and Evaluation of Tobacco Control and Prevention within and across
Institutions:  Key Issues and Events Reported by Stage of Change in the Life Cycle of 
a Coalition.  Proceedings of the 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health.  Chicago. 

Gingiss, P., Murray, R., Gottlieb, N. Weinstein, R.  (November, 2000).  Triangulation of Data from Texas Key Informants for Tobacco Intervention Planning.  1th Annual Conference  on Chronic Disease Prevention and Control.  Joint Conference of the CDC Prevention Research Centers Program and the Association of State and Territoral Chronic Disease