Bar and nightclub owners trying to get an exemption from Hawaii’s ban on indoor smoking were able to further their argument before lawmakers Thursday.
A bill that would allow bar and nightclub owners to post "smoking permitted" signs in the entryways of their establishments won approval after being heard by a House committee, although its chances of further passage appear slim.
State Rep. Angus McKelvey (D, Olowalu-Kapalua), chairman of the House Economic Revitalization and Business Committee, passed the bill along to the House Judiciary Committee with reservations, saying after the hearing that he did not think it would go much further.
"I would be very surprised if it even gets off the floor," McKelvey said. "But at the same time, we needed to have this discussion."
McKelvey said he wanted to promote public discussion of the bill because he is concerned that the state’s smoking ban could be hindering tourism from Asia.
"The fact is, the visitor industry says in the polling that this is a source of complaint that keeps coming up," he said. "If we are trying to aggressively go after that market, it is part of their culture."
Bar and nightclub owners who support House Bill 2306 said the ban has forced smoking tourists into dangerous alleyways behind Waikiki hotels, and to public sidewalks where rowdy behavior, littering and noise can’t be monitored by security officers.
"Nobody wants the noise, and nobody wants the violence or the problems," Bill Comerford, president of the Hawaii Bar Owners Association, said after the hearing.
Under existing law, smoking is prohibited in the workplace and in enclosed or partially enclosed areas open to the public.
Supporters of allowing an exemption for bars and nightclubs also testified Thursday that doctors and scientists across the nation, some formerly involved in various cancer societies and institutes, have come out saying that studies on secondhand smoke are deceitful and based on questionable science.
In response, Deborah Zysman, executive director of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, said, "There has to be comprehensive science on something before the surgeon general comes out with a report. … We feel incredibly confident that there is sound science that shows secondhand smoke is incredibly bad."
Many of the most vocal supporters of the ban, such as Zysman’s coalition and the American Cancer Society, urged lawmakers to keep the existing law intact.
"Smoking and tobacco use is Hawaii and the nation’s leading preventable cause of illness and death," said Julian Lipsher, speaking for the state Department of Health. "In Hawaii this translates to about 1,100 resident deaths yearly," he said, and costs the state about $630 million each year for medical and health care and lost productivity.
McKelvey said he is concerned an exemption might displace bar and nightclub employees who do not want to work in a smoke-filled environment. Even though he doesn’t think the bill will get far, he amended it to include a provision that requires bars to provide smoke-free areas.
Comerford, who allows smoking in some of his bars despite the ban, said most of his employees are smokers, and they prefer working in such an environment because the tips are better.
"They understand that, but if it’s that much of an issue for them for health, there’s plenty of jobs as waitresses in bars or restaurants. … It’s not my responsibility to employ everybody," he said.
The Hawaii Bar Owners Association said the ban cost businesses millions last year.
Zysman said the lost revenue bar owners might see as a result of the ban far outweighs the costs of health care for tobacco-related illnesses.
"Bringing those costs down is good for business," she said. "Employees that are exposed to secondhand smoke are not going to be in good health."
Comerford said 20 percent of Ireland’s pubs have closed since a smoking ban was enacted there in 2004, but had no similar data on local establishments.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
HawaiiNewsNow Video: Bill exempting bars from smoking ban advances
