SB132, a bill that would have banned smoking in all public restaurants, went up in smoke Monday.
The Senate Health and Environment Committee voted 3-2 to send the issue to interim study - the equivalent of defeating the bill for at least another year.The committee killed the bill largely because of confusion over exactly what the definition of a restaurant is. Did it include bowling alleys that serve snacks? Did it include taverns that also serve sandwiches? Or truck stops where long-haul truckers stop for a smoke and a cup of coffee?
Lawmakers also were concerned over mandating that restaurants do something they may already be doing.
"People are applauding Hardees for going smoke-free," said Sen. Craig Peterson, ROrem. "The difference is they did it on their own. That's the way it should be."
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said he may try to resurrect the bill this session, perhaps by sending it to a different, more sympathetic committee.
"It's a serious, serious health issue," Hillyard said.
Citing concerns over effects of the bill on tourism, Senate President Arnold Christensen, R-Sandy, a non-smoker, made the motion to study the issue for another year.
If the bill were adopted, Utah would become the first state in the nation to ban smoking in all public restaurants. The bill provided for exemptions for private clubs and for the Salt Lake International Airport. But it was unclear to committee members how the law would affect taverns and other establishments where people commonly smoke.
The law would not have taken effect until October 1993. It would also have stiffened the penalty for smoking in public places to a Class C misdemeanor.
Restaurant owners, hotel representatives, bowling alley owners and tavern operators packed the committee hearing Monday to protest the legislation, which they said is too vague and too inflexible. And it sends the wrong kind of message to tourists and out-of-state visitors, they said.
The Utah Rights Coalition presented the committee with 3,000 signatures from Utah residents opposed to the bill.
While most, if not all, state and county health organizations support the bill, tourism officials were less enthusiastic.
"It could have a negative effect on our efforts," said Rick Davis, president of the Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau, which has taken no formal position on SB132.
"But we know it (smoke-free restaurants) is a ball rolling downhill and gathering speed."
Hillyard questioned how banning smoking in restaurants would hurt Utah's public image when 80 percent of the population of the United States doesn't smoke. If anything, the bill should be a boost to tourism, he said.
A Salt Lake County Health Department official testified that the county is already considering its own laws banning smoking in public restaurants.
Hillyard argued the measure was purely health related and that current laws on smoking in public places are not being adequately enforced. He also cited public opinion polls that show that 80 to 90 percent of Utahns want smoke-free restaurants.
"Anyone who argues their restaurant will close down because of this bill probably isn't enforcing the law now," Hillyard said.