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

TOPEKA — Gov. Mark Parkinson says a top priority during the final legislative session of his governorship will be to win passage of a statewide smoking ban.

Parkinson is a Democrat who has said repeatedly that he will not seek election in 2010. He was lieutenant governor when Kathleen Sebelius became secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and succeeded her as governor. He said he is attempting to keep his “to do” list relatively short.

He said he wants to guide the state out of its budget problems, continue to craft an energy policy that maximizes the state’s renewable resources, secure the National Cancer Institute designation being sought by the University of Kansas Medical Center and put a statewide smoking ban on the books.

In a recent interview, Parkinson said he was well aware that efforts in each of the last three sessions to enact a ban had fallen short.

“Good ideas often take a number of legislative sessions to actually become law,” he said. “A ban on public smoking is a good idea. It has progressed further along each year.”

In 2009, a bill that would have banned smoking in most indoor places in Kansas passed the Senate twice but died when senate advocates couldn’t work out a compromise with reluctant House negotiators.

Parkinson said that three months from the start of the 2010 session, it’s apparent that any proposed ban still faces an uphill battle in the House.

“I think a realistic assessment would be that its passage is currently short of the number of votes it needs in the House, but with a significant and effective effort we can succeed,” he said.

Parkinson said he believes a ban on smoking in public places is the most effective way to protect Kansans from the health hazards of secondhand smoke and to reduce the costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses, which in Kansas annually exceed $700 million.

Parkinson said he favors a strong, uniform public smoking ban that doesn’t exempt business if they agree to bar minors or construct separately ventilated smoking areas.

“I would support a robust public smoking ban that would override the local ordinances and make it very difficult for a local community to opt out,” he said. “I recognize that a legislative process is a process of negotiation and to the extent that some negotiation might be necessary to ultimately get a smoking ban passed, I understand that. But I support a strong smoking ban not a watered down version that looks like a smoking ban but in fact allows establishments to opt out so cheaply that in effect it is nothing at all.”

—Jim McLean is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at jmclean@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 110.