(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would let Iowa cigar bars sell liquor could be debated in a senate committee this week. Chuck Ripley owns The Cigar Social USA shop just off I-80 in Davenport. “We’re a high end premium cigar lounge and we should be able to serve you a beverage is you want one,” Ripley said, “an adult beverage, that is.” Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act allows indoor smoking on casino floors, but that is the only public exception to the law that was passed in 2008. Ripley says the bill would let businesses that sell premium cigars get a state liquor license.

“We’re trying to make this make a lot more sense for not only small business, but the Department of Revenue as well,” Ripley said. The fee for a state liquor license for Ripley’s business would be over 16-hundred dollars a year, plus the state sales tax would be assessed on every glass of whiskey, bourbon or tequilla sold. Ripley is among those who spoke at a subcommittee hearing in a room in the Iowa Capitol where smoking was allowed four decades ago.

A.J. Brown of Des Moines is urging legislators to grant cigar bars an exemption from the law that bans smoking in enclosed public areas, like bars. He’s has been to cigar bars in Rapid City, South Dakota, Omaha and Denver. “You can pair drinks and food,” Brown said. “This is a very similar thing where you can pair a drink with a cigar and enjoy both at the same time.” Chris Hay of Des Moines predicts Iowa cigar bars would draw more patrons if alcohol were served. He’s been to indoor cigar bars in Florida and Texas.

“My wife loves to go with me to these and she’ll have a cocktail or a drink while I have a cigar and a drink,” Hay said. A coalition of groups that support Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act oppose the move. Catherine Pollard is a spokesperson for CAFE — Clean Air for Everyone, a non-profit focused on reducing tobacco use. “At a time when Iowa’s cancer rates are rising, it’s really disappointing to see further exemptions being written in rather than closing some of the loopholes that already exist,” Pollard said.

Some states like Connecticut and Wisconsin that banned indoor smoking in the past 20 years allowed indoor cigar bars already in existence to continue serving alcohol. Wisconsin lawmakers are considering a bill that would license NEW businesses that could sell alcoholic drinks on the menu with premium cigars.