Georgia CommonsHouse · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 1040: Health; prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of any state and local government buildings or enclosed public places
Last action February 25, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
A House committee substitute would extend Georgia's smoking ban to a 25-foot buffer around state and local government buildings and enclosed public places, and would eliminate several long-standing workplace smoking exemptions.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia's current smoke-free air law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 12A of Title 31) bans smoking inside government buildings and enclosed public places but does not restrict smoking just outside their doors. This substitute to HB 1040 would add a 25 foot no-smoking buffer around those buildings, meaning people could no longer light up right at the entrance. The bill also strips out several exemptions that previously let smoking continue in certain enclosed workplaces. Long-term care facilities, private and semiprivate hospital rooms with a doctor's written permission, certain convention meeting rooms, and common work areas or private offices in workplaces open to the public by appointment would no longer be exempt from the smoking ban; those provisions are marked 'Reserved,' effectively removing them. A small wording fix changes 'health care' to 'healthcare' in the private residence exemption. The bill repeals conflicting laws but does not state a separate effective date beyond standard enactment.
What the bill does
- Adds a 25 foot no-smoking radius around state and local government buildings, on top of the existing indoor ban.
- Adds the same 25 foot no-smoking radius around enclosed public places statewide.
- Removes the exemption that allowed smoking in long-term care facilities as defined under O.C.G.A. § 31-8-81.
- Removes the exemption for private and semiprivate hospital rooms where a treating physician had authorized smoking.
- Removes the exemption for certain convention facility meeting and assembly rooms used for private functions.
- Removes the exemption for common work areas, conference rooms, and private offices in appointment-only private workplaces.
Who it affects
State and local government employees and visitors, owners and patrons of bars, restaurants, and retail tobacco stores, operators of long-term care facilities and hospitals, convention facility managers, and private employers who previously relied on workplace smoking area exemptions.
Why it matters
People who smoke near government building entrances or certain workplaces would have to move at least 25 feet away, and several settings that previously allowed indoor smoking, like long-term care facilities and hospital rooms with doctor approval, would no longer be permitted to do so.
Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-12A-3 to prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of state and local government buildings, not just inside them.
- Section 2 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-12A-4 to prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of enclosed public places statewide.
- Section 3 revises the exemptions list in O.C.G.A. § 31-12A-6(a), marking long-term care facilities, certain hospital rooms, some convention meeting rooms, and appointment-only private workplace common areas as 'Reserved,' removing their exempt status.
- Section 3 also tightens the employer-designated smoking area exemption by clarifying it does not apply to bars and restaurants.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Smoking shall be prohibited in and within a 25 foot radius of all enclosed facilities of, including buildings owned, leased, or operated by, the State of Georgia”
“Except as otherwise specifically authorized in Code Section 31-12A-6, smoking shall be prohibited in and within a 25 foot radius of all enclosed public places in this state.”
Discussed in meetings (5)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
House Public and Community Health Committee, February 24, 2026
From 1:59:36 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor described the substitute as an update to Georgia’s existing smoke-free law. The sponsor said it would prohibit smoking within 25 feet of state, county and municipal buildings and remove indoor-smoking exceptions for private and semi-private healthcare rooms, convention facilities hosting private functions, and certain common work areas open to the public by appointment. The sponsor said the changes would reduce unwanted secondhand-smoke exposure at entrances and indoors, as well as exposure to smoke residue in furnishings and buildings. A committee member asked why deleted provisions were marked as reserved. A legislative explanation said this preserves numbering without changing the meaning of the remaining law. Another member asked about penalties and effects on legislative offices. The sponsor said the bill adds no penalties. A second member noted that some local ordinances already impose fines. The chair discussed the compromises behind the existing law and expressed interest in addressing vaping separately. The committee approved the substitute by voice vote, with no opposition heard.
House Rules Committee, March 2, 2026
From 0:25:00 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 1040 would update the state's smoke-free air law to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke. The sponsor described removing indoor-smoking exceptions for certain health care rooms, convention spaces and public meeting rooms, and establishing a minimum distance from public buildings where smoking would be allowed. No questions or decision followed.
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Michelle Au (D, HD-50)
- Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)
- Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
- Imani Barnes (D, HD-86)
- Debra Bazemore (D, HD-69)
Topics
- smoking ban
- public health
- government buildings
- workplace regulations