Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

By Sarah Green

KHI News Service

Feb. 16, 2009

TOPEKA — A bill that would limit smoking in most of the state's work and public places was tentatively approved by the Senate on Monday after nearly four hours of debate.



A few exemptions were tacked onto the measure.

Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt, R-Independence, predicted Senate Bill 25 would get final approval Tuesday, though with a close vote.

"I think some of the amendments made today were small modifications" to the original bill, he said.

Schmidt offered one of the most controversial amendments, which would exempt private clubs, including non-profits such as VFWs and American Legion halls, from the smoking ban if they had been operating on Jan. 1, 2009. Schmidt said the "grandfather" clause would prevent club owners from going private to skirt the new law.

But the amendment wasn't unchallenged.



"If that goes on, (the bill) won't protect all Kansans," said Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills, who carried the bill during the debate.

Schmidt said he was concerned about limited smoking in places that "are not, by definition, public places." And he said his amendment would likely gain the bill several votes, allowing it to pass.

Senators voted 23-16 to exempt the private clubs. But the Senate later rejected an amendment by Sen. Mark Taddiken, R-Clifton, to allow restaurants to designate smoking areas, if they were separated by a wall and had their own ventilation system.

Not allowing Kansans to smoke in restaurants, Taddiken said, could force some small-town cafes like those near  his home in north-central Kansas to close.

Wysong cited findings from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that separate ventilation systems remove odor and irritants from smoke, but not carcinogens.

He also said that if the state were to move forward, legislators would have to "get away from parochialism" and focus on the bigger picture of improving public health.

"I guess, yes, this would be pariochial," Taddiken responded. "We are going to lose those places to eat, at least, I think we will. We simply can't drive 20 miles over the noon hour to the next town to eat."

The amendment failed, 15-22.

Senators also agreed to:

• Allow smoking on the gaming floors of casinos and racetracks;

• Add language from SB 180 that further restricts the placement and operation of self-service cigarette vending machines, making it harder for minors to use them;

• Remove language exempting the Kansas Soldier's Home.

Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, said many of the elderly veterans who live in the home suffer from a host of tobacco-related diseases, caused, in part, by the availability of free or cheap cigarettes to soldiers. By removing the language, it would be treated as any other long-term care nursing facility.

The bill allows smoking in designated areas of those facilities. It also allows smoking in shops that conduct at least 65 percent of their business in tobacco sales; and 20 percent of the state's hotel rooms.

An amendment by Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, directing 50 percent of the state's annual award from the Master Settlement Agreement between states and the major tobacco companies to cover smoking-related costs in the state's Medicaid population was ruled not germane to the debate. The settlement is expected to bring in about $70 million this year to be spent primarily on social and educational programs for children.

Another amendment from Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, was also ruled not germane. It would have provided a $500 tax credit as an incentive for businesses to prohibit smoking.

Anti-smoking legislators and advocates who preferred a "clean" smoking ban with few exemptions said, for the most part, they were pleased with what the Senate did.

"It's not a deal-breaker for me to grandfather in the private clubs," said Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, particularly because many of them are located in dry counties where they do not compete with other businesses. "The greater good of the bill is more important."

"We're happy, even with the private clubs," said Anne Spiess, a spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society. "A lot of effort was put into this bill."

"This is the best thing we can do for public health this year," said Tracy Russell of the Kansas Faith Alliance for Health Reform.

"I think it's something clean air advocates should be proud of," Schmidt said.

The Senate is scheduled to take final action on the bill at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

 

-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at sgreen@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.