Counties and municipalities can now issue licenses for cigar bars, which are enclosed establishments that sell cigars and must also hold a license for on-sale alcohol, food service, or similar businesses. A cigar bar must have proper ventilation to keep smoke out of non-smoking areas, maintain a humidor, and generate at least 10 percent of its income from cigar sales. County commissioners and city officials will review applications through a public hearing process similar to the one used for regular liquor licenses.
The amendment significantly NARROWS the bill by removing the provision allowing municipalities to issue multiple cigar bar licenses based on population size (one per 25,000 residents), instead limiting each municipality to just one license. The amendment also relaxes the definition of "cigar" by removing specific technical requirements (ring gauge of 40+ and no filter), requiring only that it be an individual roll of tobacco with a tobacco wrapper, and shifts oversight from annual Department of Revenue reporting to local record-keeping subject to inspection by the issuing government body.
The amendment converted the bill from engrossed (draft) to enrolled (final) status by removing legislative markup language and formatting, while making a minor grammatical correction changing "Generates" to "Generate" in the cigar bar income requirement—this is a technical finalization with no substantive policy change.
Other amendments
Signed by the Governor H.J. 578
Delivered to the Governor H.J. 574
Signed by the President S.J. 528
Signed by the Speaker H.J. 560
House of Representatives Concurred in amendments Passed, YEAS 63, NAYS 4. H.J. 548
Senate Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 28, NAYS 6. S.J. 496
State Affairs Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 8, NAYS 1. S.J. 39
State Affairs Motion to amend S.J. 39
State Affairs Scheduled for hearing
First read in Senate and referred to Senate State Affairs S.J. 232
House of Representatives Do Pass Passed, YEAS 59, NAYS 6. H.J. 266
State Affairs Do Pass Passed, YEAS 11, NAYS 1. H.J. 14
State Affairs Scheduled for hearing
First read in House and referred to House State Affairs H.J. 179
Prime sponsor · Sen.
R
Prime sponsor · Rep.
R
Concurred in amendments
Do Pass Amended
State Affairs — Do Pass Amended
Do Pass
State Affairs — Do Pass