Senate breathes life into a smoking ban

Just a day after defeating a bill to ban smoking in bars, enough senators changed their minds to get the legislation passed Wednesday.

SB77, approved 15-14, now goes to the House — much to the surprise of its sponsor, Sen. Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, who said Tuesday he had given up on getting the ban through this session.

But two GOP senators, Curt Bramble of Provo and Chris Buttars of West Jordan, reversed their positions to vote in favor of the bill. Under Senate rules, Bramble was able to ask that the bill be reconsidered since he'd voted on the prevailing side.

Bramble and Buttars said they had mixed feelings about the proposed ban when they voted against it on Tuesday. Yes, they agreed with the health issues raised by allowing smoking, but, no, they weren't sure it should be banned in private clubs, Utah's version of liquor-by-the-drink bars.

"I'm very against smoking," Buttars said. "But it's a legal activity — where are you going to do it?" He said he finally decided, "I'm not going to support something that's killing people, like cigarettes."

There may have been another factor — Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's support of the ban. Waddoups said the mayor, a Democrat who is not popular among GOP lawmakers for his controversial positions on a number of topics, turned some senators against the bill.

Both Buttars and Bramble downplayed the mayor's influence. "Rocky who?" Bramble joked when asked whether he'd originally opposed the ban because the Salt Lake mayor endorsed it. Buttars said that had nothing to do with his position.

There was no debate on the bill Wednesday, but during a previous discussion on the Senate floor, the mayor's name came up. A backer of the ban, Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, said he usually didn't support Anderson, but "even a broken clock is right twice a day."

Waddoups said he believes his bill will receive "about the same close vote" in the House. SB77 still allows smoking in several places, including hotels, fraternal organization meeting halls and airports.

The ban in private clubs is intended to protect the health of servers, musicians and others who work in bars, by limiting their exposure to second-hand smoke.

While not directly related to smoking in private clubs, Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, said Wednesday he is concerned about how the exclusive nature of private clubs and beer bars have on the musical ambitions of older teenagers.