NEW YORK

Last-minute push for e-cig indoor ban bill

Jon Campbell
Journal Albany Bureau
Julie Hart, state government relations director for the American Cancer Society, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, May 24, 2016.

ALBANY - A bill that would ban electronic cigarette use in workplaces, restaurants and bars got a last-minute push Tuesday from the American Cancer Society and more than a dozen organizations.

A coalition of supporters held a news conference at the state Capitol, where they urged state lawmakers to pass the bill before the end of the state's legislative session next month. If approved, e-cigarettes would be covered under the state's Clean Indoor Air Act, the law that first prohibited smoking in most public, indoor spaces 13 years ago.

So far, New York City and eight counties in the state have passed local indoor e-cigarette bans, including Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Tompkins and Erie counties.

The bill before the Legislature would make it statewide.

"There's one piece that's missing from the Clean Indoor Air Act," said Julie Hart, director of state government relations for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. "We were in the vanguard, we were so far ahead of the curve, that e-cigarettes were not included in the Clean Indoor Air Act. So today we're here to call on the state to close this loophole before session ends."

E-cigarettes are small, battery-powered vaporizing devices that have grown popular in recent years as an alternative to traditional, lit cigarettes.

The measure to include e-cigarettes in the Clean Indoor Air Act has support from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who proposed a similar measure last year.

Among the groups who signed on to support the measure are the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.

The Altria Group, parent company of tobacco giant Philip Morris, has pushed against the bill, as has the American Vaping Association and the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association.

"Our concern is we don't like having to divide our customers up, we don't like having to have people go outside of our premises for part of their visit to our establishment, and we think that we should wait for more research to actually tell us whether (e-cigarettes) are effective on (smoking) reduction or whether there is a secondhand element," said Scott Wexler, executive director of the restaurant and tavern group.

Last year, the state Assembly passed the measure, but it died in the Senate.

Bill sponsor Sen. Kemp Hannon, R-Nassau County, said he hopes the Senate will act this year.

"The right for the individual to be left alone, not to be bothered by e-cigarettes, is paramount," said Hannon, who chairs the Senate Health Committee. "I think it's non-defensible that somebody can't have a meal at a restaurant without being disturbed."

The state Legislature's annual session is scheduled to end June 16.