Will A Change In Governor Finally Get A Smoking Ban At Beaches Passed?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Two California lawmakers hope a change in Governor will help them finally get a smoking ban on state-owned beaches passed, after similar legislation has been vetoed for the past three years.

Senator Steve Glazer (D-7th District) and Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-10th District) introduced Senate Bill 8 on Monday. It's similar to a trio of bills vetoed by Governor Brown at the end of the last legislative session. At the time, he wrote a direct message to the authors:

"I am returning the following bills without my signature: AB 1097, SB 835 and SB 836. These bills prohibit smoking in state parks, on state beaches, and at any picnic area on a state beach and require the Department of Parks and Recreation to post signs to notify the public of the smoking ban. I have vetoed similar measures in each of the last two years. Third time is not always a charm. My opinion on the matter has not changed. We have many rules telling us what we can't do and these are wide open spaces."

SB 8 would make smoking on a state coastal beach and in areas of state parks, or disposing of a cigarette or cigar in either place, an infraction. The infraction would carry a $25 fine.

The Department of Parks and Recreation would need to post signs at beach and state park entrances, or strategic locations, in order to inform people of the law.

Current law does ban smoking within 25 feet of a playground or sandbox, as well as inside a public building, in a state-owned vehicle, or within 20 feet of a main entrance, exit, or window of a building.