By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Jan. 29
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected this week to vote on Senate Bill 37, which would ban smoking in virtually all indoor workplaces throughout the state.
Sen. David Wysong, R-Mission Hills, who requested the bill, said he remains hopeful that the bill is still on its way to a debate on the Senate floor.
“It”s going well,” he said. “I believe the amendments being put on the bill in the committee are good ones that are strengthening the bill.”
Revisions to the bill include:
* Defining a “restaurant” as a business that conducts more than 50 percent of its business in food sales. The ban would include restaurants and bars.
* Exempting Class A clubs from the ban. Class A clubs typically belong to fraternal organizations such as the American Legion or VFW. Class B clubs, which are for-profit, members-only clubs, are still subject to the bill.
Wysong said his office has been keeping track of feedback on the bill. As of Friday, the office had received about 100 messages in support and two against.
“They”re from all over the state,” he said. “What people are starting to understand is that tobacco use is no longer a social issue but an absolute health issue. The decisive report from the Surgeon General shows that there”s an understanding that secondhand smoke can kill people.”
Government mandate
Last week, Sen. Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, asked whether the bill would “pre-empt” local smoking bans. There are 17 Kansas cities that have enacted their own bans.
Smoking restrictions vary from city to city. Some prohibit smoking in restaurants during the day; others have outlawed smoking in virtually all indoor places. Senate Bill 37 would ban smoking in almost all indoor workplaces, with some exceptions.
The committee will likely consider that issue when voting on the bill, said Committee Chairman John Vratil, R-Leawood.
“I think it”s a big concern,” Vratil said. “There are arguments on both sides of that issue.”
Advocates said a statewide ban would likely be more effective, leveling the playing field for businesses in all communities.
But opponents question the need for a state mandate and government control.
Several members of the committee have expressed concern. Sen. Greta Goodwin, D-Winfield, said she was concerned about the scope of the bill and has asked that veterans homes, like the Kansas Veteran”s Home in Winfield and the Kansas Soldiers” Home in Ft. Dodge, be exempted.
She said she plans to offer an amendment to the bill if it reaches the Senate floor.
Sen. Julia Lynn, R-Olathe, said she contacted constituents, business owners and others who “overwhelmingly” disapproved of the bill.
“They felt like, and do feel like, it is not in the state”s place to intervene in small businesses this way
or in businesses, period,” she said. “For that reason alone, I agree.”
Olathe is among the cities in the Kansas City metro area that has a local ban
and that”s fine, Lynn said.
“I think it”s fantastic that they”ve taken the issue on themselves, where it should be taken on
the local level,” she said.
Vratil said the committee would attend to the bill as time allowed. No action was taken during Monday”s committee meeting.
In other tobacco-related news:
* The Senate Ways and Means Committee was updated Monday morning on the status of Master Settlement Agreement funds. The Master Settlement Agreement resulted from a lawsuit in which states petitioned for tobacco companies to reimburse them for costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses.
Attorney General Paul Morrison presented a brief overview on pending litigation between the 46 states in the Master Settlement Agreement and two tobacco companies, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard. The two tobacco companies claim Kansas is not adequately enforcing a requirement that tobacco companies not participating in the agreement pay into an escrow account.
The two companies have withheld a portion of their 2006 payments to the state, and the state is in continued negotiations with the companies through a committee from the National Association of Attorneys General.
Instead of receiving an estimated $55 million in 2006, Kansas received $49.4 million. Though Kansas” share of MSA funds is set to jump by about $15 million starting in 2008, there”s no word on how the companies” decisions to withhold funds will affect the total Kansas actually receives.
“I would warn the committee members to not start spending that yet,” said Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, the committee chairman.
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.