Alaska Legislature

Alaska workplace smoking ban advances after 2 years stalled in House

JUNEAU — A bill to add new restrictions on smoking in Alaska is moving toward a vote after a two-year wait.

Senate Bill 63, to enact a statewide workplace smoking ban, advanced Tuesday evening at a rare meeting of the House Rules Committee. The legislation had been warehoused in the committee by Anchorage Republican Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, the committee chair, for more than two months.

LeDoux also blocked a similar bill at the end of the 2016 legislative session, when she chaired the House Judiciary Committee.

Her inaction came in spite of broad support for the bill: It has 22 co-sponsors in the 40-member House.

Alaska law already bars smoking at schools, public meeting rooms, health care buildings and elevators. Nearly a dozen cities and towns also have their own workplace smoking bans, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Those include Anchorage, Juneau and Palmer — though not Fairbanks, Kodiak nor Sitka.

The proposal before the Legislature would make the ban effective statewide.

LeDoux allowed the legislation to move forward Tuesday after adding a new provision that allows communities to vote to exempt themselves from the law — what's known as a "local option."

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LeDoux, who once represented Kodiak in the Legislature, has said she thinks smoking bans should be decided at the local level. Her refusal to advance the legislation over the past two years had prompted a spirited grass-roots lobbying campaign, with advocates at the Capitol this week sporting buttons that said "Free SB 63."

Support for LeDoux's changes to the legislation wasn't unanimous. She also removed the bill's application to marijuana, vaping and e-cigarettes, angering Juneau Democratic Rep. Sam Kito III.

"I do not appreciate having these changes being added at this late date, in this forum, on this particular bill," he said at Tuesday's meeting. As LeDoux's proposal was adopted, he left the room.

Soldotna Republican Sen. Peter Micciche, in a brief interview Wednesday, said he is "pleased the bill is moving through the process."

"All we've ever really asked for is that it receive a fair hearing," he said. "I hope it's heading to the floor and that the House has the opportunity to decide whether or not it feels it's best for Alaskans."

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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