Effort to block beach smoking ban stalls

Publication Date: 2013-05-16

• Author:From staff and wire reports
• Publication:StarNewsOnline.com

A bill that would have snuffed out local municipalities' rights to limit outdoor smoking hit a significant snag Thursday and is not likely to advance this session.

"The bill can go no further as it currently reads," said an aide in the office of Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, one of the bill's sponsors.

Thursday marked "crossover deadline" in the N.C. General Assembly, which is the date by which bills that do not raise or spend money must earn approval in their originating chamber. It is a relatively firm, self-imposed deadline. But certain parliamentary maneuvers can give bills new life, such as if a fee is added to the bill and the language changes.

Senate Bill 703, which passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, would have prohibited local governments and community colleges from regulating outdoor smoking in a manner more restrictive than state law.

Because state law doesn't restrict smoking outdoors, the measure would have nullified other anti-smoking laws for publicly owned open spaces such as parks, beaches and community college campuses...