Panel approves bill giving Oklahoma cities power to ban smoking

For the second year in a row, a House committee approved a bill that would allow local governments to have the power to ban smoking in public places.
The House of Representatives Public Health Committee passed House Bill 2267 by a vote of 8-5. It now goes to the House floor.
The same committee passed a similar measure last year. It never was brought up on the House floor. That measure, however, would have given local governments the ability to use local law enforcement to check on tobacco violations, which is not included in this year’s version.
HB 2267 would not give cities power over how tobacco is marketed, sold or taxed, said Rep. Doug Cox, the measure’s author.
HB 2267 would repeal state laws preventing cities and towns from enacting tobacco use restrictions stricter than the state’s.
Cox said Oklahoma is one of only two states with so-called pre-emption laws. Tennessee is the other one.
Cox, R-Grove, said the proposal would allow cities to decide whether to ban smoking in public places, such as bars.
“Some cities may elect not to do anything,” he said. “It will be an entirely local issue.” Health Commissioner Terry Cline told committee members that smoking is Oklahoma’s leading preventable cause of death.
Jim Hopper, president and chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, said after the meeting his group opposed the measure because different regulations by different cities would be confusing.
“We like the fact that whatever the rules are, whatever the law is, that it’s applied statewide rather than allowing individual communities to set their own regulations,” he said. “We have multiunit operators that have to train those people. That’s a business issue. They have to train their employees and they want to be able to move them around. If the rules are different in all the different locations, then it’s just hard.”
Hopper said his group also is concerned that passage of the measure could lead to other measures that would give cities and town additional powers.
“This opens the door for some really restrictive things that any small business ought to be concerned about, not just restaurants,” he said.
Dr. Robert McCaffree, vice president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said reducing tobacco usage and exposure to secondhand smoke is the most important thing the state can do to help improve the health of its citizens.
He said a 2011 study noted that cities with the highest percentage of adult smokers tend to be in one of the two states that do not give local communities the right to be smoke-free. It showed Tulsa had the highest percentage of adult smokers in the nation while Oklahoma City was ranked seventh. Tennessee had two cities in the top 12 and three in the top 15, joining Oklahoma as the only states with multiple cities that high in the rankings.
Carolyn Stager, executive director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, said restoring local rights to cities and towns will help with job creation, economic development and quality of life.
“Businesses consider the health of their workforce and health care costs when deciding where to locate or expand,” she said.
“At this time, Oklahoma communities are at a disadvantage when competing against cities in Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas, where cities and towns have the ability to become smoke-free.”