A ban on smoking clears Senate panel

A ban on smoking in virtually every private business in Utah — save some hotel rooms and airport waiting areas — moved forward Tuesday toward a debate on the Senate floor.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed SB19, sponsored by Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, by a 4-2 vote.

Despite his affirmative vote, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, said he still has some reservations and remains undecided as to how he'll ultimately vote on the bill.

"This is a very tough decision," said McCoy, who estimates there are at least 75 private clubs and taverns in his district.

"These businesses in my district are small businesses, and they're really concerned about how this might impact them financially," he said.

Waddoups and Beverly May, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, cited statistics that business has actually gone up in states that have banned smoking in bars and clubs.

"There has been nothing but positive economic impact," May said.

But Aimee Williams, owner of the Dawg Pound at 3550 S. State, estimates that 90 percent of her clients are smokers and that a ban will dramatically reduce, or even eliminate, the time they spend at her business.

"People will go elsewhere," she said. "If they can't smoke, they're going to go home."

SB19 is an expanded version of an earlier failed attempt, also by Waddoups, to ban smoking in private clubs and bars. The debate surrounding last year's legislation, like Tuesday's testimony, centered largely on the rights of private property owners vs. the interest of the state in providing smoke-free working environments.

"I gained employment in this business knowing it was a smoking environment," said Williams, a smoker who worked at the Dawg Pound for five years prior to becoming the owner.

"Yeah, it's a really bad habit and it stinks and it's unhealthy, but it's my choice," she said. "Do I want to continue to smoke? No. But when I choose to quit, I will."

Waddoups said he, too, struggled with the balance of rights. "I support freedom to choose . . . but I do oppose the right of people to choose something that's going to affect others."

It is that impact on others, particularly private club employees who may suffer the effects of secondhand smoke, that led Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, to vote in favor of the bill despite "extreme concerns about property rights and the ability to choose."

"We as a society make decisions that allow unhealthy decisions as long as it does not affect other people," Valentine said.

SB19 has the support of the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Utah Department of Health.

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