The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Saxe, determined a New York City Local Law (Local Law 152), which included electronic or e-cigarettes in the law’s smoking ban, did not violate the “one subject” rule in the New York State Constitution. Although the court found that the constitutional prohibition only applies to state statutes, it noted that the Municipal Home Rule Law and the New York City Charter have a similar prohibition. The idea behind the “one subject” rule is to prevent a statute which ostensibly relates to a particular subject from including “hidden” provisions which address another unrelated subject:
Municipal Home Rule Law § 20(3) states that “[e]very such local law shall embrace only one subject. The title shall briefly refer to the subject matter”; the New York City Charter provides that “[e]very local law shall embrace only one subject. The title shall briefly refer to the subject-matter” (NY City Charter § 32).
Local Law 152 does not violate those requirements. It was titled “A Local Law to amend the administrative code …, in relation to the regulation of electronic cigarettes.” The regulation of electronic cigarettes was the only subject of the bill and that subject was clearly stated in its title. Therefore, the bill met the transparency requirement of the one-subject rule and adequately apprised the City Council and members of the public of its contents and purpose … . NYC C.L.A.S.H. v City of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 00042, 1st Dept 1-3-17
MUNICIPAL LAW (E-CIGARETTE BAN, NEW YORK CITY LOCAL LAW BANNING E-CIGARETTES DOES NOT VIOLATE THE ONE SUBJECT RULE OF THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION, THE MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW OR THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER)/ONE SUBJECT RULE (E-CIGARETTE BAN, NEW YORK CITY LOCAL LAW BANNING E-CIGARETTES DOES NOT VIOLATE THE ONE SUBJECT RULE OF THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION, THE MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW OR THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER)/E-CIGARETTES (NEW YORK CITY LOCAL LAW BANNING E-CIGARETTES DOES NOT VIOLATE THE ONE SUBJECT RULE OF THE NEW YORK STATE CONSTITUTION, THE MUNICIPAL HOME RULE LAW OR THE NEW YORK CITY CHARTER)