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

TOPEKA — A follow-up bill has been introduced in the Kansas House that would alter the statewide smoking ban signed into law by Gov. Mark Parkinson on Friday.

Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, introduced the bill in the House Federal and State Affairs Committee on Thursday.

It would change certain dates spelled out in House Bill 2221, the smoking ban bill, she said. For instance, owners of class A and B private clubs have 90 days starting Jan. 1, 2010, to notify the secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment that they wish to allow smoking in their establishments.

“March 31 would be the cut-off, and it’s already March 12,” she said. “The dates need to be fixed.”

Landwehr said she also intends to address an issue raised by a Wichita priest who hosts charity cigar dinners. The smoking ban bill, as it stands, would prohibit those dinners from taking place.

Her bill would not address the issue of smoking on the gaming floors of casinos, she said.

The bill is still being drafted, Landwehr said, but she expects it to be read in next week.