Private clubs facing a ban on smoking

A proposal to ban smoking in private clubs survived its first committee hearing unscathed.

Intended to protect employees of private clubs from secondhand smoke by extending the prohibitions of the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act, SB77 was passed 4-1 by the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Friday, and now goes to the entire Senate for approval.

It only passed, however, after an attempt to substitute the bill with a version that only extended the ban to "fine dining" establishments, or class C clubs, which allow minors into the restaurant.

That substitute failed 3-2, while another substitute, which would have banned smoking practically everywhere except private homes, was not voted on by the committee. Both substitute bills were drafted by Sen. Ron Allen, D-Stansbury Park, who eventually voted in favor of the original bill.

Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, the bill's sponsor, said afterward that he did not support only extending the ban to "fine dining" clubs, since his intent was to not only protect children and non-smoking patrons, but to protect employees.

During the committee, he read from e-mails sent to him by club employees, all of whom supported the ban because of the health issues associated with second-hand smoke.

"We're not going to stop all of those costs by prohibiting smoking in private clubs," Waddoups said. "But we will help reduce them."

The lone senator who voted against the bill, Sen. Greg Bell, R-Farmington, said that he was primarily concerned about the bill's expansion of government control over adult decisions. At the same time, he supported the substitute since it would protect children.

"I feel like where children can go, we ought to exclude those places," he said. "But government should not reach into a private club where only adults can go."

Some speakers testified that in other states where smoking has been banned in bars and clubs, the overall revenues actually increased because more people would stay longer and drink more alcohol. But Bob Brown, who owns Cheers to You in downtown Salt Lake, said that his business could be reduced by as much as a 20 percent if the ban passes the Legislature.

"To think that a club where people come to drink and smoke, if you take away half of the reason to come, less people are going to come," he said. "It's ridiculous to think my business will improve."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com