City Moves Toward Closing Door on More Exemptions to Philadelphia's Indoor Smoking Law
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A City Council committee today took a first step toward closing the lid on bars and clubs getting exemptions to the Philadelphia citywide smoking ban.
That 2007 smoking ban allowed for waivers under certain circumstances, under a provision put in by then-councilman Michael Nutter as a compromise to secure passage.
But bars continue asking for exemptions, and earlier this year City Council granted four more of them.
So now, a Council committee has approved a bill that closes the waiver process once and for all. It is supported by the mayor.
"This is really a chance to shut that door, and say going forward that we really don't want any exemptions to this law," Nutter's health commissioner, Dr. James Buehler, testified today. "The exemptions were something that were part of the original bill as a compromise to help pave the way to full enactment of a comprehensive indoor smoking ban in restaurants and bars. So this is really just making sure that the original intent of the legislation is honored."
The bill ending exemptions now goes to the full Council, where final approval is expected.
The four establishments that received the most recent exemptions were a neighborhood taproom, a private club, and two strip clubs. During that debate, officials with the city's tourism industry said big conventions increasingly are wary of meeting in cities where smoking is prevalent.