Senate Bill S183

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S183

SPONSOR: RYAN S
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to repeal paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of the
public health law relating to making restaurant and bar patios one
hundred percent smoke free

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To close a loophole in the 2003 Clean Indoor Air Act to make patios 100%
smoke free.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 repeals paragraph (g) of subdivision 1 of section 1399-q of
the public health law.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
              

JUSTIFICATION:

When the Clean Indoor Air Act was written, the language allowed for a
quarter of certain restaurant patios to be designated as smoking areas.
Today, this exception remains on the books, though most patios in New
York State are 100% smoke free. Secondhand smoke contains harmful carci-
nogens, and these can spread whether smoking is allowed on all or part
of a patio. The 7000 chemicals in secondhand smoke, at least 70 of which
are known to cause cancer, account for roughly 7,300 lung cancer deaths
and 34,000 heart disease deaths in the USA each year.

This bill protects both restaurant employees and their guests, while
providing clearer industry standards. Smoking on patios has a dispropor-
tionally high impact on women, who are more likely than their male coun-
terparts to work as servers or waiters, despite men making up a larger
percentage of the overall restaurant workforce.  This will also protect
pregnant servers and guests, as well as other patrons, including chil-
dren and families, from secondhand smoke exposure.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: S2771/A6298

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.