The measure cleared the House Health Committee 9-4, setting up full House debate as early as Tuesday.
A 2002 state law prohibits smoking in most workplaces but exempts motels and businesses peddling alcoholic drinks and those primarily selling tobacco products.
HB1075 would eliminate those exemptions. Motels and other places that offer sleeping rooms would continue to be exempt.
Supporters said nonsmokers and bar workers should not have to endure secondhand smoke.
“Legal products come with legal limitations,” said Jennifer Stalley, lobbyist for the American Cancer Society.
“Eighty percent of us don’t smoke and shouldn’t be exposed to secondhand smoke, nor should we have to choose between earning a living and our health,” she added.
Stalley said similar bills will be considered this year in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska. Seven states already ban smoking in most businesses, she said.
Lobbyists for other health organizations said smoking causes many health problems, especially for children, and raises medical and insurance costs that are subsidized by nonsmokers.
Rep. Larry Frost, R-Aberdeen, prime sponsor of the bill, said seven states have similar laws. He said such a smoking ban also was implemented recently in Ireland and Italy.
Opponents said people simply can avoid bars where smoking is allowed, and those who work in bars can find jobs in businesses where smoking is taboo.
Larry Mann, lobbyist for the South Dakota Association of Video Lottery Establishments, warned legislators that a legal challenge to such a law is possible and would be expensive for the state.
Mann told the committee a smoking ban in Helena, Mont., is tied up in court. The measure prohibited smoking in all public buildings, but has been on hold.
Tim Kant, owner of Stogeez Cigar Lounge in Sioux Falls, said HB1075 would shut him down. The business, which offers alcoholic drinks and cigars, has been open for 10 months and is successful, he said.
Customers often remark about the smoke-free atmosphere in the lounge, which is kept that way by an expensive ventilation system, he said. Kant said he and his three sons run Stogeez, and it has no nonfamily employees, Kant said
“I don’t know how you can possibly pass a law that would make me close down my family business,” Kant said.
He refuted supporters’ statements that similar laws ban smoking in bars in seven states. Some of those laws provide special provisions for bars and cigar shops, he said.
Smoking and drinking are adult activities, and the Legislature should not interfere with those personal decisions, said Tim Dougherty, lobbyist for the state Retail Liquor Dealers Association.
“People that attend our establishments know that smoking is hazardous to their health,” he said. “It’s a conscious decision that people make.”
Such a state law would not apply on Indian reservations and would be an advantage for tribal casinos that compete with Deadwood casinos and video lottery businesses, Dougherty added.
It is unlikely that many people would travel long distances to Indian casinos because they allow smoking, responded Rep. Elizabeth Kraus, R-Rapid City. She argued that enforcement of such a law would not be difficult because nonsmokers would quickly turn in businesses that ignore the smoking ban.
Kraus said many people have urged her to support the bill and further restrict smoking in the workplace. “They’re upset about this.”
Government has no business trying to regulate personal habits, said Rep. Gary Jerke, R-Tripp.
“We’ve gotten ourselves to a point where we’re trying to protect ourselves from ourselves,” he said.
Jerke said he does not condone smoking but cannot support the bill.
“I’m torn between my head and my heart on this,” he said.
Stalley countered that smoking not only harms smokers but also harms others. “It’s the old adage that your rights stop where my nose starts,” she said.
