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Senate advances cigar-bar endorsement bill after debate on worker safety and indoor-air law
Summary
Senate Bill 150, which would create a cigar-bar alcohol endorsement and exempt those establishments from parts of Montana's Clean Indoor Air Act, passed second reading on a 30-20 vote after senators debated employee exposure and air filtration standards.
Senators recommended Senate Bill 150 do pass on a 30-20 vote. The measure would add a cigar-bar endorsement to certain liquor licenses and create an exemption from some Clean Indoor Air Act requirements for endorsed establishments; it also sets related license and fee conditions in statute.
Sponsor Senator Galt described the proposal as narrowly tailored and said it includes HVAC and other "sideboards" to limit indoor exposure. "This is nothing new," Galt said on the floor, noting several thousand cigar bars exist nationally and characterizing the change as a small statutory carve-out.
Opponents, including Senator Mongeau, emphasized worker-safety concerns and questioned whether ventilation requirements in the bill would adequately protect employees. Mongeau cited a voter survey and personal experience with secondhand-smoke consequences and said ventilation systems may not be sufficient to prevent health harms. Other senators asked practical questions about license types and signage; the sponsor said the endorsement would be limited to the more restrictive light-liquor license category and that establishments typically identify themselves as cigar bars.
The motion that the committee recommend Senate Bill 150 do pass was made by Senator Galt. The clerk recorded 30 senators voting aye and 20 voting nay; the bill passed second reading.
