News-Record.com

As expected after last night, the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association now opposes the smoking ban bill.

The association stayed on the sidelines when the bill applied to everyone equally. But an exemption added Wednesday would allow bars to ban people under 18 and post signs saying they allow smoking. That change, association officials said, broke the peace.

"It's clear now that there's no longer a level playing field," said Paul Stone, who heads the association.

Many family-friendly restaurants pick up an active bar scene after 9 p.m. If the bill passes in its current form, he said, those businesses would be at a disadvantage competing against bars that can allow smoking.

Rep. Hugh Holliman, the bill's chief proponent, said last night he would ask the Senate to return the bill to its original form.

But Stone said it is not a matter of fixing the bill.

"We're going to fight the bill," he said. "We're going to tell the senate we're opposed to House Bill 2."

That hard line is strategic. Even if the Senate returned the bill to a blanket ban, it would go to a conference committee to reconcile difference between the House and Senate.

Conference committees are black boxes and non-legislators who have an interest in bills aren't thrilled when their bills hit conferences. That's because just about anything can emerge from the black box of non-public conference committees.

Having the association in the fight is problematic for smoking ban supporters. They helped kill the 2007 version of the bill (for the same reasons) and their membership has a wide reach. (Think representatives from tourist areas as well as big cities with lots of hotels and restaurants.)