Bars and taverns have launched one of the most intense lobbying campaigns a veteran lawmaker has ever seen, hoping to persuade senators to exempt their establishments from a statewide smoking ban.
They lost the fight in the House. But they are hoping to turn the tide with a vote today in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On the eve of that vote, lobbyists Tuesday tried to underscore their position with a poll they said shows support for exempting bars and taverns.
Of the 612 registered voters polled, 54 percent said they would rather ban smoking in restaurants but allow it in bars that make less than 25 percent of their sales from food than impose a ban in all bars and restaurants.
“If legislators are truly responsive to the people, then they’ll know how to vote. This is what people are saying,” said Chuck Ford, the lobbyist for bars and taverns.
But Democratic Sen. Dan Grossman, sponsor of House Bill 1175, said a poll done last year by supporters of a ban showed that more people are likely to go to restaurants and bars if smoking is banned.
“The truth is people will patronize them,” he said.
Grossman said that with the exception of the smoking ban he introduced last year, this is the hardest he has been lobbied during his decade in the legislature. Still, he predicted, the bill will get through his Judiciary Committee today with no more exemptions.
Currently, the bill exempts only casino floors, the Denver International Airport smoking lounge, cigar bars, smoke shops, small businesses and family farms.
When the bill gets to the Senate floor, Grossman said there will be more votes on whether to exempt taverns, dog tracks, bingo parlors and other sites. Those votes, he predicted, will be “very close.”
“I’m very confident that we’ll be able to pass it without exemptions,” Grossman said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to take the casino exemption out.”
That’s bad news for Sam Webb Jr., whose parents own The Village Pub in Thornton. He has been working at the Capitol to exempt bars and taverns. A smoking ban, he said, would cause a 20 to 50 percent revenue loss.
“There should be a place,” Webb said, “that people could smoke without being persecuted.”
Senate Republican leader Andy McElhany, who said he will vote against the bill unless taverns are exempted, said he thinks there are enough votes to win an exemption because Republicans who support the ban also support exempting taverns.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
