Subscribe to Cigar Rights of America RSS feeds and get the most up-to-date cigar-related legislative news for Louisiana. http://www.cigarrights.org/xml/news/news_LA.xml http://www.cigarrights.org/favicon.ico http://www.cigarrights.org/images/CRA08small.jpg en-us ORLEANS, JAN 27 — Smokers have been able to puff away at home even after they can no longer smoke at work, in restaurants and bars, or at the beach. But some residents at Old Colony Village in Orleans want to stop neighbors from lighting up even in their own living areas. Proposed smoking ban The Old Colony Village condominium complex is considering the following bylaw: Smoking is prohibited within all units, in all common areas and outside on decks and patios. Existing smokers can be exempt. The exemption ends when the unit is conveyed or, if rented, when the smoker moves out. Even if the unit is exempt, the board may respond to residents' complaints of secondhand smoke by declaring the smoke a nuisance and requiring the owner to purchase a filter system to prevent smoke from migrating to surrounding areas, seal all penetrations in walls, ceilings and floors, or stop smoking. The condominium association is debating a smoking ban for its 143 units in response to complaints about secondhand smoke migrating into hallways and neighbors' units in the two- and three-story buildings on Old Colony Way. The proposed bylaw would prohibit smoking as units are sold but would allow the complex's board to require that a resident who smokes install a filter system, seal off places where smoke could escape, or even stop smoking. http://www.cigarrights.org/news_LA.htm Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:00 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE, APR 24 -- Smoking in bars would be a thing of the past as of Aug. 15 if two south Louisiana legislators have their way at the lawmaking session that begins Monday. Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco, has filed House Bill 844 to ban smoking in "any restaurant or bar." A state law adopted three years ago banned smoking in restaurants, office buildings and other public places but granted exceptions to bars, gambling boats and casinos. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/louisiana_lawmakers_look_to_ex.html Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:26 -0800 Louisiana MAY 20 - Legislation that would ban smoking in bars and casinos narrowly passed through a House committee Tuesday. Members of the House Health and Welfare Committee rejected amendments to exclude cigar and hookah bars from the ban before voting 8-7 to move House Bill 844 to the House floor. State Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco, and sponsor of HB844, said similar bills have been discussed and it always boils down to the choice for businesses to allow smoking instead of public health. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/45456692.html?showAll=y&c=y Wed, 20 May 2009 11:07 -0800 Louisiana NEW YORK (Dow Jones), JUN 3 --Shares of casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (PNK) jumped as much as 14% Wednesday, a day after the Louisiana legislature overwhelmingly rejected a bill to expand the state's smoking ban to include bars and casinos. Pinnacle has a significant amount of its operations in Louisiana, and analysts have expressed concerns that a smoking ban in casinos could weigh on Pinnacle's results. "If you have three hours to gamble, and you spend half an hour outside smoking, it's less time on the device, so you don't lose as much money gambling," Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Brian McGill told Dow Jones Newswires, adding that other people who have to go outside to smoke will end up just leaving the casino. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/BT-CO-20090603-708987-kIyVDAtMEM5TzAtODIwMDgwWj.html Wed, 3 June 2009 10:14 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE, JUN 2 -- Citing the potential for harming businesses, the House today overwhelmingly rejected a move to broaden the state's indoor smoking ban to include bars and gambling establishments. The 29-71 vote on House Bill 844 by Rep. Gary Smith followed more than an hour of debate and several attempts to change the bill, most of which were turned away. Supporters of the measure said it was a public health measure designed to protect patrons and workers in bars and casinos from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and would create a level playing field between restaurants, bars and casinos. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/06/house_rejects_smoking_ban2971.html Tue, 2 June 2009 03:17 -0800 Louisiana Smoking would be banned in casinos and bars under a bill approved Wednesday by the Louisiana Senate. The Senate voted 23-12 for the measure. The legislation next moves to the Louisiana House, where a less-stringent casino smoking bill died last week in a health committee. Senate Bill 348 would be an expansion of Louisiana’s Smokefree Air Act under which smoking is barred in any public building, school, public places and any enclosed area within a place of employment. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/legislature/93650404.html 13 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE, La. A measure that would stamp out smoking in Louisiana's casinos and bars is headed to the House after sailing out of the Senate on Wednesday. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Robert Marionneaux, D-Livonia, is aimed at protecting workers in casinos and bars from second-hand smoke, which, he said, kills 53,000 Americans and 1,100 Louisianans every year. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FLVO800.htm 13 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE -- The effort to broaden Louisiana's indoor smoking ban appears to be dead for the session after a House committee this morning shelved legislation to require non-smoking areas on riverboat casinos. The action by the House Health and Welfare Committee on House Bill 1323 sends a clear signal that committee members are in no mood to follow their counterparts in the Senate, where the health committee voted unanimously last week to ban smoking in bars and casinos. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/05/effort_to_broaden_indoor_smoki.html 6 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana A House panel rejected a Senate-passed measure Tuesday that would have banned smoking in Louisiana bars and casinos — likely ending the battle in the 2010 legislative session. The state Health and Welfare Committee voted 8-4 to involuntarily defer the legislation. In recent years, the committee has been a graveyard for bills that sought to expand Louisiana’s Smoke Free Air Act. Earlier in the session, the same panel rejected a much less-restrictive bill that would have required casinos to have non-smoking areas. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/legislature/94895024.html 26 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE, La. A Senate-backed attempt to ban smoking in Louisiana bars and casinos has been snuffed out. The House Health and Welfare Committee rejected the bill in an 8-4 vote Tuesday, a step that was expected to kill the measure for another legislative session. The Senate passed a similar bill last year, only to see it die in the House. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FU0SEG0.htm 25 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana I would like to address the speculation raised since the start of debate regarding Senate Bill 348 requiring a total smoking ban in bars and commercial casinos but exempting Indian casinos. Colorado, Delaware, New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania have implemented total or partial smoking bans and without exception saw an immediate reduction in revenues. Since implementation, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have scaled back their non-smoking measures, having experienced losses to tax revenue and jobs. Pennsylvania now allows smoking on 50 percent of its gaming floors and Atlantic City recently extended its moratorium on a total smoking ban for another two years. http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20100522/LETTERS/100529780?p=all&tc=pgall 22 May 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana A recent surgeon general's report could renew campaigns to push the Louisiana Legislature toward a 100 percent smoke-free state or to at least require casinos to have separate gaming areas for non-smokers. Both efforts — bolstered by the "Let's Be Totally Clear" multimedia campaign featuring musicians and bar and casino employees arguing for their right to work in a smoke-free environment — were put before lawmakers this spring but failed, and rightfully so. We remain unconvinced that legislating such bans is the means to use. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20101217/OPINION03/12170315/Editorial-No-need-for-more-smoking-bans 17 Dec 2010 11:11 -0800 Louisiana GARY | A Northwest Indiana state representative sneaked back into the state Monday to hear his Illinois counterpart discuss her battle for approval of smoke-free legislation and to provide an update on his own smoking legislation efforts. http://www.fox8live.com/news/local/story/Harrahs-faces-potential-class-action-lawsuit-over/p8BU6vqTgE-aFCSzHf2GPw.cspx 11 Mar 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana Employees and residents across the state received greater protection from second-hand smoke in 2007 after the passage of Louisiana's Smoke-Free Air Act. However, the act left a segment of the population exposed to the health risks associated with second-hand smoke. http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110318/NEWS01/103180325/1002/Group-pushes-all-Louisiana-public-establishments-go-smoke-free 17 Mar 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana Smoking would be banned in Louisiana bars under a measure that squeaked out of a state Senate committee Wednesday. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted 4-3 to advance the measure after eliminating a casino smoking ban that had been included. “We take what we can get,” said state Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Grosse Tete, sponsor of Senate Bill 133. “If it’s the will of the Legislature we will take bars.” http://www.cigarrights.org/stateclubs_LA.htm 18 May 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a non-profit taxpayer advocacy organization, reiterated its opposition to HB 591, legislation that would raise taxes on tobacco products. ATR notified members of the Louisiana House this week that a vote in favor of HB 591 would violate the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a commitment that sixteen members of the Louisiana House have made to their constituents to oppose any and all efforts to raise taxes. http://atr.org/americans-tax-reform-hb-tobacco-hike-a6179 25 May 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana The state Senate rejected legislation Wednesday that would have outlawed smoking in Louisiana bars, handing a victory to bar and gambling interests that lobbied against the ban. The 22-15 rejection of Senate Bill 133 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux Jr., D-Livonia, marks at least the third time that lawmakers have refused to expand the state's 2006 law that banned smoking in restaurants and other indoor public spaces. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/senate_rejects_bill_to_ban_smo.html 1 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A proposal to extend 4 cents of Louisiana's tobacco tax, which is set to expire in 2012, easily passed the Senate's tax committee Tuesday despite continued opposition from Gov. Bobby Jindal. Rep. Harold Ritchie, D-Bogalusa, sponsor of the tax renewal, said the House-approved extension would help fund health care needs that arise from tobacco use in the state. "I think it's important to our young people," Ritchie told the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee. "I think it's important to our budget." http://my.news.yahoo.com/la-senate-committee-approves-tobacco-tax-renewal-202626932.html 1 Jun 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana A number of Alexandria bar owners and employees Thursday spoke out against a proposed smoking ban in city bars. About 25 bar owners and employees attended a public meeting to discuss the proposal at City Hall on Thursday, and not one of them supported the smoking ban, according to an informal poll conducted by City Councilman Harry B. Silver. http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011107150331 14 Jul 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana Alexandria again finds itself facing a decision about smoking, this time about whether to ban it in bars. In 2006, the city banned smoking in restaurants a year before the state did. Today they are considering a ban on smoking in bars and gaming establishments, the only two areas exempted from the statewide ban. Carrie Broussard, policy and advocacy manager for the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, said other communities "are considering" a complete smoking ban, but none have done so. http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110808/NEWS01/108080320 7 Aug 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana Smokers at Alexandria bars will be able to ring in the new year by puffing on a cigar or cigarettes. After that, however, all of the smoke will be snuffed out. The Alexandria City Council on Tuesday passed an amended version of an expanded smoking ordinance that will prevent smoking at bars and gaming establishments in city limits, as well as within 25 feet of city property and athletic arenas and ballparks. http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011111004010 4 Oct 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana There is a certain irony to it, some have said. Smokers in Alexandria will have to leave local tobacco stores to light up the products they just bought there. At least 25 feet from the stores to be exact, starting Jan. 1 after the Alexandria City Council passed an ordinance Oct. 4 banning smoking in businesses previously exempt from state and local smoking bans, including bars and tobacco stores. http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20111030/NEWS01/110300310/Smokers-feel-beat-by-city-Alexandria-s-coming-ban 30 Oct 2011 11:11 -0800 Louisiana