Lawmakers have dashed some tavern owners? hopes for finding a loophole for outdoor sites in the recently implemented smoking ban in bars and restaurants.
A House of Delegates committee rejected a proposal to create an exemption for Baltimore County eateries with semienclosed outdoor facilities Thursday, just after the legislation won the support of a Senate committee.
A disappointed Del. Joseph J. “Sonny” Minnick ? who co-owns a Dundalk tavern and “very much” opposed the smoking ban ? said regulations that took effect Feb. 1 failed to address enclosed decks, patios and tents.
“I thought it was a very small compromise,” said Minnick. “Small bars like mine and the ones in Baltimore City are going to be hurt. They are hurt, and I know firsthand.”
The Senate Finance Committee narrowly approved the proposal earlier this week when Sen. Catherine Pugh, a Baltimore City Democrat, changed her vote to favorable. Pugh declined to discuss her switch, saying Thursday she would prefer to wait until a full Senate vote to comment.
That vote may not happen, said Sen. Norman Stone, a Baltimore County Democrat who championed the proposal in that chamber. Under current law, smoking is permitted in enclosed outdoor facilities as long as one side remains open.
After the House ruling, Stone called a Senate vote “fruitless.”
“All we were saying was, in inclement weather, you could put down that one side,” Stone said.
Stone and Minnick said they proposed limiting the restriction from Dec. 1 to March 1, and prohibiting food and beverage service in the smoking area.
State health officials, the American Cancer Society and the Maryland Lung Association testified against the exemption.
