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House debates bill to make Capitol Hill complex smoke- and tobacco-free
Summary
Representative Cutler introduced first substitute HB 155 to prohibit tobacco use across the Capitol Hill complex, extending existing indoor rules outdoors and leaving designated accommodations to the Capitol Preservation Board; the House opened a vote but the transcript does not record the final tally.
Representative Paul Cutler presented first substitute House Bill 155 to make the entire Capitol Hill complex tobacco-free, extending the indoor Clean Air Act restrictions to outdoor spaces on Capitol Hill while allowing the Capitol Preservation Board to designate “reasonable accommodations” (for example, selected parking-lot corners or street-side locations) where tobacco use would be permitted for visitors and employees.
Cutler framed the measure as a public-health effort, citing support from the State Board of Health, the University of Utah, Huntsman Cancer Institute, Intermountain Healthcare and editorial support from the Deseret News. He said the bill would provide signage and mirrored enforcement language from the indoor Clean Air Act; citations could be issued, though he said he hoped that would rarely be necessary. Cutler told colleagues the policy would begin in 2019 while administrative steps would start immediately.
Several representatives asked detailed questions about scope and enforcement. Representative Chu asked whether smokeless/tobacco products carried in pockets would be restricted and whether visitors could still come onto the hill; Cutler replied that visitors could still attend but would need to use designated areas to consume tobacco and that the outdoor rule mirrors existing indoor rules. Representative Hall pressed whether leaving accommodation details to the Capitol Preservation Board would push smokers into distant or confined areas and said she could not support the bill without clearer definitions; Cutler said the board would designate reasonable outdoor sites and that earlier placement of a receptacle where buses disembark had concentrated visitor smoking to one area.
Representative Cutler also said enforcement would fall to the Highway Patrol and emphasized that the bill seeks to provide support to employees seeking to quit smoking through public-health resources rather than to punish them. The House opened voting on first substitute HB 155; the transcript excerpt ends before a final vote count is recorded, so the bill’s passage or failure is not shown in the provided text.
