By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Jan. 24
The scope of a legislative proposal to ban smoking in public places has expanded.
Senate Bill 37 was amended Wednesday during discussion in the Senate Judiciary Committee to also include private vehicles transporting children under age 18.
Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, offered the amendment, which passed 5-4.
“It”s tantamount to child abuse for adults to be smoking in cars where there are children inside,” he said. “Adults can choose where they want to go. Children don”t have that choice.”
Bangor, Maine has passed an ordinance that bans smoking in cars with children; the California, Connecticut and Maine legislatures
are considering similar proposals.
Senators also discussed a proposed amendment to make a statewide smoking ban optional, but with an incentive for small businesses who choose to be smoke-free.
Sen. Donald Betts, D-Wichita, asked committee members to consider allowing workplaces with 25 or fewer employees to choose to be smoke-free. Workplaces, including restaurants and bars, were included among the public spaces listed in the original bill.
Those workplaces that opted to be smoke-free would then be eligible for admission to the Non-State Employee Benefits Plan, which is now open to cities, counties, school districts and other organizations such as hospitals and libraries. It is the same insurance plan offered to state employees, with the same access and choice of providers, said Megan Ingmire, director of communication for the Kansas Health Policy Authority.
Allowing all those small businesses into the pool could be too expansive, said Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood, the committee”s chair.
“Wouldn”t that make eligible most of the employers in the state of Kansas?” he asked.
Betts said the 25-employee suggestion was an arbitrary number, but he hoped that smaller bars and restaurants would take advantage of the opportunity to provide health insurance to their employees, especially those who had been exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke.
The committee did not vote on that amendment, but asked staff members to research the number of businesses in the state with 25 or fewer employees, and also asked for a fiscal note on what it would cost to allow those businesses in the Non-Employees Health Benefits Plan.
Discussion will continue on SB 37 during the Judiciary Committee”s next meeting, which starts at 9:30 Thursday in Room 123-S.
In other tobacco-related news:
The House Committee on Health and Human Services on Tuesday introduced HB 2162, which would ban smoking and the use of tobacco products on school property.
The bill has been referred to the committee, but no hearings have been scheduled.
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.