SACRAMENTO — Already barred from lighting up in restaurants, theaters and the office, Californians may also be banned from smoking in their apartments under a proposal passed by the state Senate on Thursday.
The measure would allow landlords to prohibit smoking in apartment buildings they own to protect nonsmoking tenants from secondhand smoke.
The legislation is among a slew of worker protection and consumer protection bills that advanced this week in the state Legislature, including bids to restrict lead in lipstick and toys, require nutritional information on restaurant menus, protect workers from discipline for using marijuana for medical purposes and bar dentists from arranging credit for patients while they are under the influence of anesthesia.
Senate bills now go to the Assembly for consideration, and vice versa.
In a year when the state is wrestling with a huge budget deficit, the Legislature has largely shelved non-urgent bills that add to state costs in favor of those that help consumers and whose costs are absorbed by the private sector.
"This year, consumer protection bills are getting an added emphasis, given the limitations presented by the budget," said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).
Padilla is the author of SB 1598, which would permit landlords to impose the smoking ban. California already prohibits smoking in many public places, including playgrounds, concert halls and some beaches.
"While we have championed the efforts to protect adults in the workplace and bars, we have done very little in this state to protect children and their families in their own homes," Padilla told his colleagues. He said his bill would "increase the availability of smoke-free housing in California."
The measure was opposed by Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Dick Ackerman of Irvine, who saw it as unnecessary meddling, and said it was against the wishes of the public.
"The vast majority of all renters, including . . . nonsmokers, are opposed to it," Ackerman said, citing a recent survey by Apartments.com.
The proposal, similar to a measure in Utah, is supported by the California Apartment Assn., which represents about 50,000 property owners, said Monica Williamson, vice president of the group.
