Bill would ban smoking in NY hotels
ALBANY – The days of smoking in New York hotel rooms would be over if an assemblyman from the lower Hudson Valley has his way.
A new bill in the state Legislature would add hotel and motel rooms to the list of indoor spaces where smoking is prohibited in New York, removing an exemption for the hotel industry that has existed since the state Clean Indoor Air Act was passed in 2003.
The proposal is based on personal experience, said Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, D-New City, Rockland County, who introduced the bill late last month.
“I’ll be honest, I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms,” Zebrowski said. “One of the things I’ve noticed is if you are above, below or next to a smoking room — even if you’re a non-smoker — it comes right through the vents.”
As it stands, hotel rooms rented to one or more guests are on a list of seven spaces exempted from the state’s ban on indoor smoking, including private residences and automobiles, cigar bars, membership organizations and retail tobacco shops.
Zebrowski’s bill would change that, moving hotel rooms to the much longer list of places at which smoking is legally prohibited. Hotel owners would be subject to a fine for any violations.
When lawmakers return to the state Capitol in January, the bill will likely meet opposition from the tobacco industry, whose biggest players oppose broad-based smoking bans.
Altria, the parent company of Phillip Morris USA, contends it should be up to business owners to decide whether smoking is permitted inside their facilities.
The company has an active presence in Albany, lobbying most recently against efforts to treat e-cigarettes the same as traditional ones when it comes to smoking bans.
“In indoor public places where smoking is permitted, business owners should have the flexibility to decide how best to address the preferences of non-smokers and smokers through separation, separate rooms and/or high-quality ventilation,” according to the company’s website.
So far, the legislation does not have a sponsor in the Senate, though Zebrowski said he hasn’t yet reached out to any senators about picking up the newly introduced bill.
“I just think from all the evidence of the detriments of second-hand smoke and as much as we’ve tried to eliminate the threat to non-smokers, this I think is a reasonable next step,” Zebrowski said.
It’s unclear where the hotel industry will stand on the proposal. Some chains, including Marriott and Westin, have already banned smoking within their hotels.
Four states already have hotel smoking bans in place, including Wisconsin, which became the first state in the nation to act in 2010.
“At this point, with the bill being introduced, we will go out to our 1,300 members, survey them and talk to them before we can give industry-wide feedback,” said Mark Dorr, vice president of the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association, which represents the state’s lodging industry. “So we really don’t have a position on it right now.”
Twitter.com/JonCampbellGAN