Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.R. No. 74 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this Resolution is to request the Governor and the Director of Transportation to designate Hawaii's airports as completely smoke-free areas.

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, and a concerned individual testified in support of this measure. The American Heart Association provided comments.

Your Committee finds that exposure to secondhand smoke is just as damaging as smoking. Airports in other states, as well as in other countries, have been designated as smoke-free zones. Without a policy to ensure airports are kept smoke-free, it would not only be unhealthy but unfair to non-smokers, who have no recourse from exposure to secondhand smoke in an environment such as an airport facility.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.R. No. 74 and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.