Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Bars could get break on ban

Bill would exempt pubs from state anti-smoking law

April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 24, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More Colorado Government

More stories »

Patrons of mom-and-pop bars will be lighting up again if one state lawmaker gets her way.

In exchange, the watering holes would pay an extra $500 for their liquor licenses - half of which would go to the state and half to local governments to help offset the costs of smoking.

"These are adult establishments," said Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, who wants to modify the indoor smoking ban that went into effect July 1. "This bill would include all places that have a liquor license: the small mom-and-pop bars, private clubs such as the Elks, the Moose."

Tochtrop, who argues that the issue is fairness, said she would introduce her bill today.

"Hopefully, it will never see the light of day," said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, chief sponsor of the smoking ban. "The answer is not to go back and reopen the debate and expose workers to secondhand smoke. The answer is to move forward and deal with the unfortunate casino exemption."

Golden tavern owner Angie Godfrey said she has been struggling to keep her West Colfax neighborhood bar afloat since the smoking ban took effect.

Since July, she said, Angie's Tavern, which has been in business since the 1970s, has taken a $17,000 hit in sales and has had to lay off four workers.

"I'm a small place that holds up to 50 people, and half my customers aren't coming in," Godfrey said. "I haven't gotten new people like they said we would. I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

The Colorado License Beverage Association said Godfrey is not alone. The bar owners' group cited a recent survey showing that nearly 60 neighborhood pubs have reported a decline in business, ranging up to 45 percent.

The survey also found that 29 neighborhood bars in the metro area have gone out of business and telephones at another 30 bars have been disconnected.

"We're concerned about the 60 bars that have closed or are barely hanging on since the enactment of the smoking ban," Tochtrop said.

May isn't buying it.

"To say 60 bars went out of business because of the smoking ban is ludicrous," May said. "Bars are among (businesses with) the highest failure rate."

In any event, the smoking ban "isn't about profits," said Pete Bialick, director of GASP of Colorado, a nonprofit organization that promotes smoke-free policies. "It's a public health issue. It's about protecting workers."

Denver Democrats Sen. Ken Gordon and Rep. Anne McGihon plan to push a measure this session to extend the statewide smoking ban to casinos.

Life after the ban at small taverns

Mom-and-pop bars are defined as individually or family-owned neighborhood pubs.

• Business since ban: A trade organization for the mom and pops says its survey of 60 metro Denver taverns show business is off from 10 to 45 percent since the smoking ban.

• Effect on revenue: Sales tax data from Aspen, Snowmass and Telluride demonstrate that smoking bans long in place in those towns have had no negative effect on revenues, according to GASP of Colorado.

• Restaurants vs. bars: A survey of 23 Brighton restaurants and bars showed that those who serve food would opt to remain smoke-free, while pubs and bars would return to smoking, says David Ronquillo of Coalition for Equal Rights.

Pro and con

Lawmakers on opposite sides of the smoking ban:

• Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, backs mom and pop exemption.

• Mike May, R-Parker, was chief sponsor of original smoking ban bill.