Health News
- Smoking-ban Bills Get Unfavorable Committee Assignment In State Senate, But Supporters Say They'll Keep Trying To Get Votes
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. ? The state Senate's Republican leaders have assigned both the Republican and Democratic smoking-ban bills to a committee that appears unlikely to send them to the full Senate. The Veterans, Military...
- Sponsors Of Statewide Smoking Ban Predict It Will Finally Pass The House, And Say It Has A Chance In The Senate
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Sponsors of a bill to ban smoking in most public places in Kentucky said Wednesday that it will pass the House and has a chance in the Senate. "I think we're going to do it this year," Republican Rep. Julie Raque Adams...
- Democratic Leaders Back Statewide Smoking Ban; Gop Counterparts Are Opposed Or Conflicted, But Unsure Of Outcome
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The top Democratic leaders in the General Assembly favor a statewide ban on smoking in most public places, and while their Republican counterparts are conflicted or opposed, they say they don't know how their fellow...
- Beshear Endorses Statewide Smoking Ban As Bill Moves To The House Floor; Williamsburg Adopts Its Own Ban
Gov. Steve Beshear endorsed a statewide smoking ban yesterday at a Frankfort rally to push the bill that would enact the ban. "Beshear, who later acknowledged that he smoked in college but quit soon afterwards, said Kentucky ranks No. 1 in the nation...
- Statewide Smoking Ban Close To House Vote, Stumbo Says
For the second straight year, the state House Health and Welfare Committee has approved a bill that would ban smoking in enclosed public places or workplaces. It is still unlikely to become law, but might get farther in the legislative process. "The proposal...
Health News
Advocates, including governor, rally for statewide smoking ban
The annual Smoke-Free Kentucky rally was held Wednesday in the rotunda of the Capitol to promote passage of a statewide smoking ban. Gov. Steve Beshear and Dave Adkisson, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, were among the advocates. Others included the sponsors of the legislation, Reps. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, and Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, and Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville; and Sgt. Dakota Meyer of Columbia, Marine Corps veteran and Medal of Honor recipient.
?This is not a law that?s going against liberty,? said Meyer, 25, who has said he is interested in a political career. ?It?s going (for) protecting others, and that?s what laws are for.? Other speakers at the event "said they?ve reached a tipping point, and the state that tops the nation for smoking may finally be close to passing a smoking ban," Laura Ungar and Sebastian Kitchen report for The Courier-Journal.
Smoking-ban legislation has never come to a vote in the full House because it lacked the votes to pass, but its chief sponsor said recently that she now has the votes. A similar bill has been introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate for the first time, but Senate leaders sent it to the Judiciary Committee rather than the Health and Welfare Committee, which is chaired by the bill's sponsor.
Senate President Robert Stivers, who opposes the bill, told The Courier-Journal that "he has not polled members to know how much support there is in the Senate," the Louisville newspaper reports. "He acknowledged there are mixed opinions on the legislation and there is a possibility it could come to the floor for a vote. Beshear said he will keep pushing the bill because ?The health of our people demands that we do this.?
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| Dakota Meyer said he got involved in the issue after his friend Regan Judd, right, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, told him the dangers of secondhand smoke. (Photo by Charles Bertram, Lexington Herald-Leader) |
Smoking-ban legislation has never come to a vote in the full House because it lacked the votes to pass, but its chief sponsor said recently that she now has the votes. A similar bill has been introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate for the first time, but Senate leaders sent it to the Judiciary Committee rather than the Health and Welfare Committee, which is chaired by the bill's sponsor.
Senate President Robert Stivers, who opposes the bill, told The Courier-Journal that "he has not polled members to know how much support there is in the Senate," the Louisville newspaper reports. "He acknowledged there are mixed opinions on the legislation and there is a possibility it could come to the floor for a vote. Beshear said he will keep pushing the bill because ?The health of our people demands that we do this.?
- Smoking-ban Bills Get Unfavorable Committee Assignment In State Senate, But Supporters Say They'll Keep Trying To Get Votes
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. ? The state Senate's Republican leaders have assigned both the Republican and Democratic smoking-ban bills to a committee that appears unlikely to send them to the full Senate. The Veterans, Military...
- Sponsors Of Statewide Smoking Ban Predict It Will Finally Pass The House, And Say It Has A Chance In The Senate
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News Sponsors of a bill to ban smoking in most public places in Kentucky said Wednesday that it will pass the House and has a chance in the Senate. "I think we're going to do it this year," Republican Rep. Julie Raque Adams...
- Democratic Leaders Back Statewide Smoking Ban; Gop Counterparts Are Opposed Or Conflicted, But Unsure Of Outcome
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News The top Democratic leaders in the General Assembly favor a statewide ban on smoking in most public places, and while their Republican counterparts are conflicted or opposed, they say they don't know how their fellow...
- Beshear Endorses Statewide Smoking Ban As Bill Moves To The House Floor; Williamsburg Adopts Its Own Ban
Gov. Steve Beshear endorsed a statewide smoking ban yesterday at a Frankfort rally to push the bill that would enact the ban. "Beshear, who later acknowledged that he smoked in college but quit soon afterwards, said Kentucky ranks No. 1 in the nation...
- Statewide Smoking Ban Close To House Vote, Stumbo Says
For the second straight year, the state House Health and Welfare Committee has approved a bill that would ban smoking in enclosed public places or workplaces. It is still unlikely to become law, but might get farther in the legislative process. "The proposal...