House broadens smoking ban law

Publication Date: 2005-04-06

• Author:SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
• Publication:Providence (RI) Journal-Bulletin

The House of Representatives yesterday swiftly passed a bill prohibiting smoking in small bars and private clubs, some of which had previously been exempted from the state's new smoking ban.

The Senate is expected to pass the legislation shortly and Governor Carcieri is likely to sign it into law.

The change comes days after Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Fortunato Jr. ruled that exemptions for some holders of class C and D liquor licenses were unconstitutional. Fortunato said there was no rational reason for lawmakers to prohibit smoking in some bars while exempting a group of almost identical bars from the ban.