Smoking ban compromise to resurface in March
HARRISBURG – A compromise on legislation that would ban smoking in restaurants, some bars and other public places in Pennsylvania could come as soon as late March, according to the chairman of a legislative panel working on the bill. Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, said the joint House and Senate committee he is in charge of has planned public hearings March 10 and March 13 in Harrisburg on the smoking ban proposal.
Some minor issues such as whether to post signs warning patrons of restaurants not to light up and disagreements over a list of exceptions to the ban still have to be resolved, he said.
But Greenleaf said he is aiming for a committee vote by late March or early April.
“I think we need as much information as possible when we vote on this,” he said. “We have to do it, I think, as fairly and with as much input as possible. There are people who have different views so let them express them, discuss them and then vote.”
The state House of Representatives and state Senate passed competing smoking ban bills last summer.
The House backed a more restrictive measure that would ban smoking in virtually all public places, including restaurants, bars, casinos, train stations and bus stops.
A Senate bill would have allowed exemptions for cigar bars, small bars where food sales did not top 20 percent of total receipts, private clubs and 25 percent of gaming hall floor space in casinos.
Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks County, was the prime sponsor of the Senate version that anti-smoking groups have criticized for being too lenient.
He predicted that some form of smoking ban legislation will be passed by this summer but is concerned about state government going to far in restricting smokers.
“I generally didn’t like the idea of government telling you what to do,” he said.
“I understand we are going to have a smoking ban. However we cannot do it 100 percent as long as smoking is legal. As long it is legal, you have to carve out a place for them (smokers) to exercise their legal rights in public.”
McIlhinney said one stumbling block in negotiations has been how to define a small tavern or restaurant where smoking would be permitted.
He supports defining small taverns and bars as those with food sales that are less than 20 percent of total business.
“If there’s a hot dog grill behind the bar, and that’s all the food you are serving, then you will be allowed to smoke (under the Senate proposal),” McIlhinney said.
Supporters of a tougher smoking ban have proposed using seating capacity and a certain square-footage threshold for determining whether smoking would be permitted.
The easiest way to enforce it is with the food sales,” McIlhinney said. “Quite frankly, the votes aren’t there (on the committee) to do square footage and seating size.”
Rep. Michael Gerber, D-Montgomery County, believes that eventually the votes will be there for a smoking ban that is closer to the House version than the Senate version.
He’s the prime sponsor of the House bill.
And Gerber noted that during several days of debate last summer the House rejected a smoking proposal with exemptions similar to the ones backed by the Senate.
“I don’t think the House has an appetite for a bill that’s as full of exceptions and loopholes as the senate bill,” he said.
Next month’s hearings should build on the progress Gerber said the committee has already made in reaching a compromise.
“I’m very confident we’ll get some smoking ban with some teeth in it,” he said. “Where we are bogged down right now already gets us to a (smoking ban) in 95 percent of the buildings in Pennsylvania. We are arguing over the margins right now. They are important margins, but I think we can get this done.”