RALEIGH N.C. The North Carolina Restaurant Association said it would support a bill banning smoking in all public places that is expected to be introduced to the state legislature on Tuesday, provided there are no last-minute amendments exempting some businesses, such as private clubs, from enforcement.
“This is a complete ban of smoking, not what I’d call a ‘restaurant’ ban because it includes everybody,” said Paul Stone, president of the North Carolina Restaurant Association. “There will be no exemptions for clubs. Because the ban is across the board, we are neutral on the bill. But if people start putting in amendments, we’ll fight it.”
Stone said that based on information collected by the restaurant association, approximately 80 percent of members are in favor of the bill’s passage. He added that the legislation “was expected and has a good chance of passing” despite the fact that North Carolina has been the largest grower of tobacco in the United States for the past 300 years.
“We’d be the only state that goes from all to nothing or nothing to all, depending on the way you look at it,” he said.
If passed, House Bill 2 will go to the Senate for a vote. Similar legislation was proposed in 2007 but defeated.
Earlier this week Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia signed into law a partial smoke ban that requires restaurateurs to build a separate, ventilated room for those customers wishing to smoke on the premises. Bars and private clubs, however, are exempt from the law. Virginia is the second-largest tobacco grower in the United States, and home to Philip Morris, manufacturer of Marlboro cigarettes.
Stone said the proposed bill in North Carolina is nothing like the law in Virginia.
“This is not like Virginia in any way,” Stone said. “That’s a different situation because there are too many carve-outs to mention; it’s not a fair bill. We look at a bill as being fair when everybody that does business in a state follows the same rules. Any bill that doesn’t have that does not [create] a level playing field. And fairness is always a big issue with us.”
Contact Elissa Elan at [email protected].
