Smoking Bill Snuffed Out For Good
A bill to ban smoking in Utah’s private clubs and taverns was snuffed out for good Tuesday by the Utah Senate.?
Smoking Bill Snuffed Out For Good A bill to ban smoking in Utah’s private clubs and taverns was snuffed out for good Tuesday by the Utah Senate.?
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A bill to ban smoking in Utah’s private clubs and taverns was snuffed out for good Tuesday by the Utah Senate.
Senators killed the bill on a 16-13 vote. The bill’s final vote had been held up for weeks as its sponsor, Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, worked to secure support. It only passed with a handful of votes on its first reading Jan. 28.
Utah’s 1996 Indoor Clean Air Act already bans smoking in most buildings, but private clubs and taverns are included on a long list of exemptions to the act, including airport smoking rooms and country clubs. Waddoups’ bill would have amended the act to remove private clubs and taverns from those exemptions.
Waddoups had deemed the measure a “worker’s rights” bill, because banning smoking in taverns would protect employees from exposure to secondhand smoke.
Secondhand smoke kills 50,000 people annually in the United States, and costs Utah businesses millions each year, Waddoups said, quoting from various studies.
“Members of the Senate, let me just remind you, smoking kills people. People will die. Perhaps we can save some lives,” Waddoups said, making his final push for support.
Previous discussion of the bill had sparked vigorous debate about whether lawmakers should reach into private clubs and impose behavioral restrictions upon members.
There was no debate of the bill Tuesday.
Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park, cast his vote against the bill as a vote against big government. Clubs and taverns can already elect to post “No Smoking” signs in their establishments if they choose, Allen added.
“I’m wondering how effective this tool really is?” Allen said, adding that he encouraged business owners to choose voluntary bans and “make Utah a better place to live and work.”
Bob Brown, owner of Cheers To You, a downtown Salt Lake club, said in a telephone interview after the vote that he understood how the issue left many senators torn between the health issues, the rights of workers and the rights of business owners.
“Ultimately, I think the right to choose is what won out,” said Brown, who had lobbied against the bill. “Obviously, I’m very happy in the outcome. I guess freedom is just slightly more important than the health issue here in Utah.”
