Kentucky bill aims to override local anti-smoking laws to allow cigar bars

[JohnS]

Kentucky bill would override local anti-smoking laws to allow cigar bars

Kentucky Public Radio - By Sylvia Goodman, Published February 11, 2025

David M. Hargis/ LRC - First-year Rep. Chris Lewis from Louisville is sponsoring the bill to require exceptions in local indoor smoke-free laws for cigar bars.

Louisville Republican Rep. Chris Lewis is pushing a bill to require a cigar bar exception to indoor smoking bans. It progressed through a committee vote Tuesday.

A Kentucky bill to allow indoor smoking in cigar bars regardless of local ordinances passed through its first committee vote Tuesday.

The bill defines a cigar bar as a place with a retail liquor license that makes at least 15% of its profits from cigar and pipe tobacco products. Under the bill, the cigar bars must also be limited to those 21-years-old and older and permit only cigar or pipe tobacco smoking inside — no vape products, electronic cigarettes or other nicotine products.

Louisville Republican Rep. Chris Lewis said the bill does not seek to repeal the smoke-free laws.

“This bill will not roll back any municipalities' local smoke free law. That's not the intention,” Lewis said. “This is not about having a cigar in a regular bar or a bowling alley or a restaurant. This will not allow that.”

Lewis presented his bill alongside Anthony Piagentini, the Louisville councilmember who leads the city’s Republican caucus. Piagentini previously attempted a similar carveout in Louisville’s indoor smoking ban in 2021. The proposal failed.

“People are coming for the Derby, people are coming for these large events, and they are quite literally going across the river and they are doing business in Indiana when they find out that we have no venue whatsoever to enjoy a cigar and a bourbon,” Piagentini said.

Some communities in Kentucky already have exceptions for cigar bars in their city or county’s smoke-free ordinance. Others don’t have restrictions on indoor smoking. For example, Paducah’s indoor smoking ban already has an exemption for cigar bars and lounges, although its definition of a cigar bar varies from the one set out in the state legislation.

Doug Hogan, government relations director for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, urged lawmakers to vote against the bill. He said the legislation would contradict the will of the Kentucky cities and counties that enacted their own strict smoke-free ordinances.

“The bill will not roll back all elements of the 44 smoke free ordinances, but it does roll back some of those and provide local government officials with no authority to stop what may be described as a very loosely designed ‘cigar bar,’” Hogan said.

According to the University of Kentucky’s Smoke-Free Ordinance Database, 38% of Kentuckians live in communities with smoke-free laws that include all indoor workplaces and public places, each with their own specific guidelines and rules.

Dr. Michael Gieske is the director of the lung cancer screening program at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky. He said he remembered when smoking was frequent indoors. Gieske said the decline in smoking — and consequently the decline in lung cancer mortality — is in part due to comprehensive indoor smoking bans.

“When you have a comprehensive smoke free policy, that's where you get the biggest bang for your buck,” Gieske said. “It lowers smoking across the board. It lowers lung cancer mortality. If a smoking policy is not comprehensive, you don't see that same benefit.”

The legislation would allow local governments to require cigar bans to have yearly permits, including required facility inspections and documentation. It would also require that the cigar bar keep smoke from entering other nearby homes and businesses and must have a “smoke-free space” for people who aren’t employees or patrons, like delivery drivers or mail carriers. The cigar bar also has to provide a notice that people will be exposed to smoke inside at all of the entrances.

Two Democratic lawmakers on the committee voted against the bill. The legislation now moves to a vote on the House floor.

Source: https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-02-11/kentucky-bill-would-override-local-anti-smoking-laws-to-allow-cigar-bars

[BrightonCorgi]

Kentucky politicians showing up for the cigar smokers! 

[Earthbuddy]

I didn’t realize they had a ban on cigar bars. I have a friend from Kentucky that I have spoken with about cigars and he never mentioned it. I don’t use a bar since I smoke at home but I go inside some to look for various cigars. I would enjoy going to one however to drink, listen to live music and smoke. 

[Duxnutz]

4 hours ago, Earthbuddy said:

I didn’t realize they had a ban on cigar bars. I have a friend from Kentucky that I have spoken with about cigars and he never mentioned it. I don’t use a bar since I smoke at home but I go inside some to look for various cigars. I would enjoy going to one however to drink, listen to live music and smoke. 

I think it might be a Louisville thing. Either way we need more. 

[JohnS]

Kentucky House Bill Aims To Bring Cigar Bars To Louisville

Feb 18, 2025 - By Garrett Rutledge

Photo/iStock/Getty Images

Horse racing, which emphasizes the spectating experience perhaps more than the physical endeavor itself, is known for celebrating elegance and refinement, which naturally includes cigars. Each spring, the pinnacle of the sport takes place in Louisville, Kentucky, home of the iconic Churchill Downs racetrack and the Kentucky Derby. Cigars are undoubtedly one of the defining features of this iconic sporting week, and while you can smoke at the outdoor track, you can’t smoke inside anywhere within the Louisville city limits. But a new bill recently introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly may soon change that. 

House Bill 211 would allow for the creation of new cigar bars in the state of Kentucky, including the city of Louisville. The qualifications for a cigar bar, according to the bill, would include:  

• the establishment have a retail liquor license
• at least 15 percent of its profits come from the sale of cigars, pipe tobacco and/or the rental of humidors
• only persons 21 years or older are permitted inside
• a notice is posted at entrances to indicate that smoke is present inside 
• only cigars and pipes are allowed to be smoked inside: vapes, cigarettes and any other forms of smoking are prohibited
• a smoke-free space provided for the delivery of supplies, mail, and other items

The bill also states that if the cigar bar shares a wall or a “common, enclosed air space with any other structure” the owners would have to implement measures to ensure smoke stays within the cigar bar and does not pass into the adjoining structure.

Cigars are are a common sight at Churchill Downs, especially during the Derby, but you can't smoke inside anywhere within the Louisville city limits.

The bill (HB211), if passed, would overrule local authority specifically as it pertains to cigar bars. In Louisville, for example, this new legislation would supersede the Louisville Metro Smoke-Free Ordinance from 2008, which prohibits smoking indoors anywhere within the prescribed city limits. If it passes, the bill would represent a notable exception in a commonwealth that prizes local authority, specifically with tobacco control.

Representative Chris Lewis, who introduced HB211, pointed out that the sole intention of the bill is to allow for the creation of new cigar bars, rather than repeal the smoke-free ordinances passed across the state by local jurisdictions. “This is not about having a cigar in a regular bar or a bowling alley or a restaurant,” Lewis said. “This will not allow that.” Rep. Lewis and his fellow sponsors of the bill made notable mention of Louisville and the Kentucky Derby itself when introducing HB211, pointing out that much business is often lost across the river to nearby Indiana for those looking to have a drink and a cigar while in town. 

The argument is certainly a prudent one. Derby week is the backbone of the city, generating essential tourism and revenue that fuel Louisville year-round. For an event that brings so much attention to Bourbon and cigars, it’s quite astounding you can’t enjoy the two together indoors in the city that encompasses the hallowed grounds of Churchill Downs. 

There’s still a ways to go before this reality may change. HB211 is currently working its way through the committee stage and is awaiting a full vote in the House.

Source: https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/kentucky-house-bill-aims-to-bring-cigar-bars-to-louisville

[MrBirdman]

While I support allowing cigar bars, I cannot get behind preempting local control over issues like this. People have right to make these decisions for their communities through their elected officials, even when I think they use it misguidedly. 

[El Presidente]

https://halfwheel.com/kentucky-house-passes-cigar-bar-bill-sends-to-senate/447440/

On Tuesday, the Kentucky House of Representatives approved House Bill 211, which would allow for the creation of cigar bars in the state. After a pair of floor amendments were made, the bill passed by a 74-19 vote.

One of the amendments will allow a local government to permit cigar bars without the requirement of a liquor license, while the other rewords a requirement that cigar bars must provide a smoke-free area for deliveries so that businesses that are already in operation won’t be forced to remodel their space to comply with the law. It will still require new builds to comply with the requirement.

The bill still requires cigar bars to meet a number of requirements, including that it must make at least 15 percent of its profits from the sales of cigars, pipes, releated accessories and the rental of humidors. Additionally, it must be limited to persons at least 21 years old, must have signage indicating there is smoking allowed inside, and it must only allow the smoking of cigars and pipes, meaning cigarettes, e-cigarettes and similar products would not be allowed. Additionally, if a cigar bar shares a physical wall or common, enclosed air space with any other structure, it must take appropriate measures to ensure that smoke does not pass into those other structures.

“This bill will not roll back any municipalities’ local smoke-free law. That’s not the intention,” Lewis previously said. “This is not about having a cigar in a regular bar or a bowling alley or a restaurant. This will not allow that.” He added that he sees numerous people coming to the state for the Kentucky Derby and other events and then crossing the border to Indiana when they realize there is nowhere for them to enjoy a cigar and a drink.

The bill has been making steady progress through the House, as it was introduced by Rep. Chris Lewis, R-Louisville, on Jan. 10, and then received approval from the House Local Government Committee on Feb. 12.  It now heads to the Senate for consideration.