Preemption Watch- Bill Tracking Summary

Publication Date: 2009-01-15

January 15, 2009

Welcome to ANR's Preemption Watch Bill Tracking. ANR tracks pending legislation relating to states' smokefree air policies as part of the continued fight to prevent preemptive legislation before it can be passed and to overturn preemption in states where it is already in place.

For the 2009 legislative session, we have created an additional category for classifying pending bills. The outdoor category will list bills whose primary purpose is to address smoking in outdoor areas, including beaches, parks, hospital or campus grounds, and at a reasonable distance from buildings. We think this additional category will help you better use our bill tracking system to locate the bills that are of interest to you in a quick, easy manner.

Even a strong bill can become preemptive at any point in the legislative process, so it is very important to track even the best bills throughout the entire legislative session and keep a watchful eye out for all attempts to remove local control.

Below is a listing of state bills that have been introduced in state legislatures. Please visit the www.protectlocalcontrol.org and click on the state of your choice to view the summary, text, and status of pending bills. Please email ANR with any new information regarding pending legislation and preemption attempts in your state and we will analyze and summarize the legislation.

The new and pending legislative bills are classified below into seven categories to clearly delineate which bills will protect public health and should be supported from those that are should be opposed because they do not effectively protect public health, weaken a strong law, or intend to preempt local control. New bills and changes in bill status since the last update appear in bold.

Strong: Bill includes 100% smokefree non-hospitality workplaces and/or restaurants and/or bars; or repeals preemption.
Weak: Bill includes ventilation, smoking rooms, or other key exemptions.
Weakens: Bill weakens a current strong 100% smokefree law.
Preemptive: Bill contains preemptive language that removes the right to local control.
Vehicles: Bill addresses smoking in vehicles with children present.
Outdoor: Bill primarily addresses smoking in outdoor locations.
Other: Bills contain other provisions and should be watched.

· The following states have strong bills that include 100% smokefree non-hospitality workplaces and/or restaurants and/or bars; OR repeals preemption:

Indiana: SB282-(workplaces, restaurants, and bars); SB399 (restaurants and bars)
Iowa: HF6 (casinos)
Kansas: SB25 (workplaces, restaurants and bars)
Mississippi: HB184 (workplaces, restaurants and bars)
New Jersey: A806 (casinos)-Carried over to 2009; S236 (casinos)-Carried over to 2009
Oklahoma: HB1040 (preemption repeal)
Tennessee: HB0017 (restaurants and bars)
Texas: HB5 (workplaces, restaurants and bars)
Vermont: S0007 (workplaces)
Virginia: SB807 (preemption repeal); HB1692 (restaurants and bars); HB1704 (workplaces, restaurants and bars; preemption repeal)
Wyoming: HB0031 (workplaces, restaurants, and bars)

· The following states have weak bills that include ventilation, smoking rooms, size exemptions, or other major faults or exemptions:

Mississippi: HB169 (restaurants)
Missouri: HJR5-(constitutional amendment)
South Carolina: H3113 (restaurants and bars); H3091 (restaurants and bars); S38-(restaurants and bars)
Virginia: HB1703 (restaurants)

· The following states have bills that create exemptions that weaken a current strong law:

New Hampshire: HB392-(bar exemption)
New Jersey: A670 (private club exemption)-Carried over to 2009

· The following states have preemptive bills:

Mississippi: SB2116 (preemption); SB2545 (preemption)

· The following states have bills that address smoking in vehicles when children are present:

Indiana: SB500 (vehicles with minors)
New Jersey: S366/A2597 (vehicles with minors)-Carried over to 2009
North Dakota: SB2070 (vehicles with minors)
Oregon: HB2385 (vehicles with minors)
South Carolina: H3023 (vehicles with minors); H3082 (vehicles with minors); S23 (vehicles with minors)
Tennessee: HB0014 (vehicles with minors)
Washington: HB1151-(vehicles with minors)

· The following states have bills primarily addressing smoking in outdoor locations:

California: SB4 (parks/beaches)
Maine: LD67 (beaches)
New Hampshire: HB81 (playgrounds)
New Jersey: A1037 (outdoor smoking areas)-Carried over to 2009; A1870 (youth; outdoors)-Carried over to 2009; A2177/ S1335 (youth; outdoors)-Carried over to 2009; S871/A3546 (beaches)
New York: A00577 (reasonable distance); A01137 (playgrounds); A01837-(parks and beaches)

· The following states have other provisions and should be watched:

Arizona: HB2004 (prisons)
California: HR1 (government buildings)
Kentucky: SB35 (minor operating a vehicle)
Mississippi: HB394 (prisons); HB411 (voluntary policies); HB659 (prisons)
New Jersey: A2790 (state vehicles)-Carried over to 2009
South Carolina: S31-(schools)
Texas: HB285 (correctional facilities)