---
title: HB 1040. Health; prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of any state and local government buildings or enclosed public places
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1040
cite_as: HB 1040, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1040
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1040.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1040/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72370
date: 2026-02-25
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1039.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1041.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 199
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1040.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1040
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-01-27
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
sponsors:
  - Michelle Au
  - Debbie Buckner
  - Gerald Greene
  - Imani Barnes
  - Debra Bazemore
text_version: Comm Sub
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1040/2025
upstream_id: 2095177
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - smoking ban
  - public health
  - government buildings
  - workplace regulations
---

# HB 1040. Health; prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of any state and local government buildings or enclosed public places

## Text

The House Committee on Public and Community Health offers the following substitute
to HB 1040:
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 12A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
smoke-free air, so as to prohibit smoking within a 25 foot radius of any state and local
government buildings or enclosed public places; to prohibit smoking in certain previously
exempt enclosed workplaces; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and
for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 12A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to smoke-free
air, is amended by revising Code Section 31-12A-3, relating to smoking prohibited in state
and local government buildings, as follows:
"31-12A-3.
Smoking shall be prohibited in <ins>and within a 25 foot radius of</ins> all enclosed facilities of,
including buildings owned, leased, or operated by, the State of Georgia, its agencies and
authorities, and any political subdivision of the state, municipal corporation, or local board
or authority created by general, local, or special Act of the General Assembly or by
ordinance or resolution of the governing body of a county or municipal corporation
individually or jointly with other political subdivisions or municipalities of the state."
SECTION 2.
Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 31-12A-4, relating to smoking
prohibited in enclosed public places, as follows:
"31-12A-4.
Except as otherwise specifically authorized in Code Section 31-12A-6, smoking shall be
prohibited in <ins>and within a 25 foot radius of</ins> all enclosed public places in this state."
SECTION 3.
Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 31-12A-6,
relating to exemptions, as follows:
"(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following areas shall be
exempt from the provisions of Code Sections 31-12A-4 and 31-12A-5:
(1) Private residences, except when used as a licensed child care, adult day-care, or
<del>health care</del> <ins>healthcare</ins> facility;
(2) Hotel and motel rooms that are rented to guests and are designated as smoking
rooms; provided, however, that not more than 20 percent of rooms rented to guests in a
hotel or motel may be so designated;
(3) Retail tobacco stores, provided that secondhand smoke from such stores does not
infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited under the provisions of this chapter;
(4) <del>Long-term care facilities as defined in paragraph (3) of Code Section 31-8-81
</del> <ins>Reserved;
</ins> (5) Outdoor areas of places of employment;
(6) Smoking areas in international airports, as designated by the airport operator;
(7) All workplaces of any manufacturer, importer, or wholesaler of tobacco products, of
any tobacco leaf dealer or processor, all tobacco storage facilities, and any other entity
set forth in Code Section 10-13A-2;
(8) <del>Private and semiprivate rooms in health care facilities licensed under this title that
are occupied by one or more persons, all of whom have written authorization by their
treating physician to smoke</del> <ins>Reserved;
</ins> (9) Bars and restaurants, as follows:
(A) All bars and restaurants to which access is denied to any person under the age of
18 and that do not employ any individual under the age of 18; or
(B) Private rooms in restaurants and bars if such rooms are enclosed and have an air
handling system independent from the main air handling system that serves all other
areas of the building and all air within the private room is exhausted directly to the
outside by an exhaust fan of sufficient size;
(10) <del>Convention facility meeting rooms and public and private assembly rooms
contained within a convention facility not wholly or partially owned, leased, or operated
by the State of Georgia, its agencies and authorities, or any political subdivision of the
state, municipal corporation, or local board or authority created by general, local, or
special Act of the General Assembly while these places are being used for private
functions and where individuals under the age of 18 are prohibited from attending or
working as an employee during the function</del> Reserved;
(11)(A) Smoking areas designated by an employer, <ins>provided that such areas</ins> <del>which
shall</del> meet the following requirements:
<del>(A)(i)</del> The smoking area shall be located in a nonwork area where no employee, as
part of his or her work responsibilities, shall be required to enter, except such work
responsibilities shall not include custodial or maintenance work carried out in the
smoking area when it is unoccupied;
<del>(B)(ii)</del> Air handling systems from the smoking area shall be independent from the
main air handling system that serves all other areas of the building and all air within
the smoking area shall be exhausted directly to the outside by an exhaust fan of
sufficient size and capacity for the smoking area and no air from the smoking area
shall be recirculated through or infiltrate other parts of the building; and
<ins>(C)(iii)</ins> The smoking area shall be for the use of employees only.
<ins>(B)</ins> The exemption provided for in this paragraph shall not apply to restaurants and
bars;
(12) <del>Common work areas, conference and meeting rooms, and private offices in private
places of employment, other than medical facilities, that are open to the general public
by appointment only; except that smoking shall be prohibited in any public reception area
of such place of employment</del> <ins>Reserved;</ins> and
(13) Private clubs, military officer clubs, and noncommissioned officer clubs."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

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.

### Plain-language summary

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 it 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.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2026-01-27)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (2026-02-25)
- Sponsors: Michelle Au, Debbie Buckner, Gerald Greene, Imani Barnes, Debra Bazemore
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72370

> The history, votes, and amendments (199 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1040.md?full=1