Restaurant Related News

No Smoking Signs May Go Up in Bars and Restaurants

By: Gregory B. Hladky
Source: New Haven Register
Published: April 30, 2003

HARTFORD, Connecticut - Landmark legislation to ban smoking in Connecticut restaurants and bars and to expand anti-smoking regulations for most businesses passed the state Senate on a 26-7 vote late Wednesday.

The measure now goes to the state House, where top Democratic leaders say they have enough support to approve the bill. Republican Gov. John G. Rowland has also indicated general support for banning smoking in restaurants and bars.

Senate debate on the plan began shortly before 10 p.m. as supporters argued that second-hand smoke represents a serious health hazard to both employees and patrons of Connecticut bars and restaurants. However, critics of the legislation insisted the ban would go too far in attempting to regulate smoking and would end up hurting the business of some bars and restaurants.

The senate voted down various amendments aimed at undermining the bill, including one to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21 and another to ban smoking in any motor vehicles when persons under age 18 are present.

A different proposal to exempt bars in bowling alleys from the ban was also rejected.

Supporters of the anti-smoking bill said the measure is a badly needed protection for everyone who goes into restaurants and bars.

"Where there are smokers, there is smoke," said the state Senate's top Democrat, Kevin B. Sullivan of West Hartford. "Where there is smoke, there is second-hand smoke, and where there is second-hand smoke, there are life-threatening dangers."

However, Sen. George L. "Doc" Gunther, R-Stratford, warned the legislature was going too far in the effort to control smoking. "If you want to smoke, I suggest you go out and be a criminal because you can go to jail and smoke." The bill would not ban smoking in jail.

Intense backroom negotiations over possible exemptions to the proposed ban repeatedly led Senate leaders to delay the start of the debate.

Despite widespread public support for the restaurant and bar smoking ban, there was enough strong opposition to the proposal from special interests that several key lawmakers were predicting a close vote.

"There are a lot of divergent interests on this bill," said state Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, as he headed back for another closed-door Democratic discussion of the issue.

Anti-smoking activists were pushing for landmark legislation that would prohibit smoking as of Oct. 1 in all Connecticut restaurants and as of April 1, 2004, for bars. Private clubs with limited memberships, such as the Elks or Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, that now hold state club liquor licenses as of a specific date would be "grandfathered in" and be exempt from the ban. Newly chartered private clubs with liquor licenses would be subject to the smoking prohibition.

Restaurants with outdoor seating areas could also reserve some outdoor smoking sections.

State Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Southington, co-chairman of the legislature's Public Health Committee, said he believes the exemptions for existing private clubs answers some "legitimate concerns" by critics.

"This is a controversial issue so there has been pressure from all sides," Murphy said. The legislation being worked on late Wednesday also calls for expanding prohibitions on smoking in most businesses. The proposal would prohibit smoking in all work places with five or more employees.

Current state law requires businesses with 20 or more employees to provide smoke-free environments for workers who want them.

The push for a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars has been encouraged by strong public support. A Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday found that 64 percent of Connecticut voters support a total ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, with only 33 percent opposed. Only 18 percent identified themselves as smokers.

State House Speaker Moira K. Lyons, D-Stamford, predicted the House would give final approval to the measure next week.

Lyons said the statewide ban would "avoid a potential patchwork quilt of local ordinances that could see some towns avoid passing protective legislation, leaving workers at risk."

The smoking ban bill has been the focus of intense lobbying by a slew of different special interests, including the Connecticut Restaurant Association, the anti-smoking MATCH Coalition, and the Connecticut Bowling Proprietors Association.

Members of the restaurant association as well as the lobbyists for the bowling group, maintain that smokers should be allowed some leeway to practice what is a legal habit.

"A big percentage of bowlers smoke," said Gardner Wright, a former legislator who is now a lobbyist representing the bowling proprietors. "A much heavier percentage of (smokers) are bowlers than for the general population."