Nevada panel rejects smoking ban in restaurants

A proposal to ban smoking in all Nevada restaurants outside big casinos was rejected Wednesday by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

The proposal, an amendment to SB50 sought by the Clark County Health District, would ban smoking in all public buildings, video arcades, child care facilities and restaurants.

Instead of adopting the amendment, Assembly Judiciary endorsed SB50 as is. The measure, now moving to the Assembly floor, gives local school districts the authority to impose tougher smoking restrictions than the state currently imposes.

The bill also shortens the time frame for grocery stores to abate secondhand smoke emanating from slot arcades in the stores.

In trying unsuccessfully to broaden the bill, Clark County Health District lobbyist Helen Foley said her amendment exempted the state's large casinos to avoid opposition from the resort's powerful lobbyists.

But Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, wouldn't accept a motion to adopt the amendment.

Eight "aye" votes would have been necessary for approval of the amendment, and a majority of the panel members said they would vote against it.

Foley said the amendment would give the Legislature an opportunity to follow up on ballot questions in Clark and Washoe counties that showed broad support for smoking bans in public areas where children are present.

"We believe that the people clearly spoke that they don't want to have to inhale other people's smoke when they're eating," Foley said.

The question of usurping individual business owners' rights of control was the main sticking point on the amendment.

Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, said he owns a restaurant and it would be unfair for the Legislature to place tougher restrictions on him than it puts on casinos.

"To ban it in specific restaurants and not with everybody puts us at a terrible, terrible disadvantage," Carpenter said.

Foley said her proposal specifically left bar areas of restaurants still open for smoking and banned it in only the seated eating areas.

She said if people want to smoke during a meal they could go to the bar, or if they want to smoke throughout their meal they could just eat in the bar area and "smoke themselves to death."