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Colorado Senate Approves Watered-Down Smoking Ban

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 12:01 CST

By Charles Ashby, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

Feb. 28--DENVER -- The Colorado Senate passed a version of a statewide smoking ban Monday that not only exempts casinos, racetracks and private halls, but also neighborhood bars.

As a result, its Senate sponsor said he will kill his own bill if he can't muster enough votes to strip some or all of those exemptions from the measure.

"It's still early enough in the session to work out a compromise," said Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver. "But if this is the best thing we can do, we will not have a bill going to the governor."

Visibly unhappy with what the Senate did to HB1175, Grossman said he will make one more attempt to get the measure back to where he thinks it should be.

Trouble is, Grossman is not sure he has the votes he needs to put taverns back into the ban. An amendment to exempt establishments that earn more than 25 percent of their gross income from food passed on a bipartisan 18-16 vote, effectively leaving only restaurants under the ban.

While some senators said they could support the measure only if neighborhood bars were not included, others were adamantly against it no matter who is exempted.

"What level of hypocrisy has this body (the Colorado Senate) fallen to," asked Sen. Jim Dyer, R-Littleton. "This bill is not about health because they've exempted a few people out of it."

Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, questioned how it would be enforced.

"This smacks of totalitarianism," Owen said. "This smacks of the Soviet Union, where people are telling on other people. I believe this bill tramples on people's rights. People should be free to choose."

Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, said he heard all these objections three years ago when Pueblo became one of 17 Colorado communities to ban smoking in public buildings.

The senator, who said he lost both his parents to smoking-related illnesses, said city residents are happier and healthier for the ban.

"I have yet to hear of a business that's gone under as a result," Tapia said. "The majority of people are very happy to go into a restaurant in Pueblo and not have a fog of smoke over them."

Sen. Ken Kester, D- Las Animas, said the Pueblo ban did have a positive economic impact, but on businesses outside of the city's limits where no ban is in effect.

Grossman said the exemption of neighborhood bars on top of casinos, racetracks and private halls -- such as civic clubs and veterans organizations -- waters the bill down far more than he is willing to accept.

The senator had agreed to let the bill go forward with some of those exemptions, but said he would rather kill it and let voters take the measure to the ballot.

If that happens, Grossman said the state will end up with an even stricter smoking ban.

The measure passed on a preliminary 18-16 vote, with final approval scheduled for today. As a result of the changes, the bill will head back to the House. There, Rep. Mike May, R-Parker, is expected to reject the changes.

If that happens, a special conference committee of three representatives and three senators will be formed to try to work out a compromise.

SMOKING BAN PROPOSAL: A quick look at the changes made to the proposed statewide smoking ban:

--House Bill 1175 would bar smoking in enclosed, indoor areas including restaurants, pool halls, indoor sports arenas, three-quarters of a hotel's rooms and buses and trains.

--Smoking would still be allowed in cigar bars, the smoking lounge at Denver International Airport, casinos, bars where food accounts for 25 percent or less of their annual gross revenue, racetracks and private clubs with three or fewer employees.

--Ten states and the District of Columbia have statewide smoking bans: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

--In Colorado, 17 cities and counties ban smoking in restaurants and bars. Steamboat Springs and Eagle County passed bans after the Legislature rejected a statewide prohibition last year.

--About 20 percent of Coloradans are smokers, in line with the national average.

Sources: American Cancer Society, Colorado Tobacco Education & Prevention Alliance, American Heart Association.

The Associated Press contributed.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

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Source: The Pueblo Chieftain

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