Smoking Ban Proposed for Bars in Shreveport

The Shreveport City Council is set to take a close look at a measure to ban smoking in bars across the city. This ban would also apply to playgrounds and parks.
Casinos, cigar and hookah bars would be exempt from this ordinance.

Councilman Grayson Boucher and John Nickelson are proposing the measure. Boucher tells KEEL News this measure was modeled after the Baton Rouge ordinance, but there is a big difference. The Baton Rouge ordinance bans smoking in casinos. Boucher says he does not have the votes for that at this point.

The measure is on the agenda for a first reading today. It does have to layover for 2 weeks before a final vote can be taken.
This smoking ban would also include vaping and e-cigarettes.

Here's some of the verbiage in the ordinance:

Bar means a business that holds a state class A-general retail permit and the primary purpose of such business is to serve alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises and in which the serving of food is only incidental to the consumption of those beverages, including but not limited to, taverns, nightclubs, cocktail lounges, and cabarets.

What about the exceptions for cigar and hookah bars? Here's how that is outline:

Cigar bar means a bar, as defined in this section, legally in operation, that generated 20% percent or more of its total annual gross income from the on-site sale of cigars and the rental of humidors, not including sales from vending machines, for the calendar year ending December 31, 2019, if the cigar bar was then operating, and every year thereafter. If the Cigar bar was not operating as of December 31, 2019, a Cigar bar will have six months from the date it opens to establish that 20% or more of its total annual gross income is from the on-site sale of cigars and the rental of humidors, not including sales from vending machines.

For Hookah bars, the same 20% sales criteria will apply.