Health News
- With 55 Votes Needed Instead Of The Usual 51, It Just Got Harder To Pass A Smoke-free Workplace Law In The House
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. ? A bill to ban smoking in public places and places of employment will require the commitment of a supermajority to get a vote on the House floor, making it more difficult to pass. Rep. Susan Westrom,...
- Statewide Smoking Ban Dead For This Year, As House Democrats Worry About Political Ramifications In Fall Elections
The sponsor of a bill for a statewide ban on smoking in enclosed public places said it is dead for this year, Tom Loftus reports for The Courier-Journal. Westrom"It's dead," Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, told Loftus. "I've been told that there...
- Chief Sponsor Of Statewide Smoking Ban Says It Has The Votes To Pass The House; Prospects In The Senate Are Not As Good
A bill to ban smoking in most workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars, is on its way to the House floor, its main sponsor said after fast approval in committee. After the House Health and Welfare Committee approved the ban for the...
- Smoking Ban Bill Clears House Committee For First Time; But Sponsor Says She Won't Take It Farther This Session
A measure for a statewide smoking ban passed the House Health and Welfare Committee today, the first time such a bill has cleared committee in legislative history, Deborah Yetter reports for The Courier-Journal. But House Bill 289 is not expected to...
- Abortion Bills Die In House Health And Welfare Committee
Four bills that would have made it more difficult to have an abortion in Kentucky won't make it past the House Health and Welfare Committee. House Bill 390 and House Bill 215 would have prohibited a woman from having abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy...
Health News
Smoking ban can't get a vote due to Republican boycott over chairman's block of measure for drug tests for welfare recipients
There could have been a vote Thursday on a bill for a statewide smoking ban, but a Republican boycott of the Democratic-controlled House Health and Welfare Committee over another bill prevented that.
Chairman Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he didn't allow a vote because he didn't want to "embarrass" Napier. "Whether he admits it or not, you don't embarrass somebody by killing their bill in front of them," he said. "You just hear it."
"Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's decision not to have a vote on House Bill 26, sponsored by Rep. Lonnie Napier, R-Lancaster, which would require the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to implement a substance-abuse screening program for recipients of public assistance," reports Greg Hall for The Courier-Journal.
Chairman Tom Burch, D-Louisville, said he didn't allow a vote because he didn't want to "embarrass" Napier. "Whether he admits it or not, you don't embarrass somebody by killing their bill in front of them," he said. "You just hear it."
Just eight of 16 committee members were present; at least nine are needed to move a bill. Six of the absentees were Republicans; two were Democrats. "Without a committee majority present, no vote was take on HB 289, the smoking ban sponsored by Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington. Burch said he likely will call a special committee meeting early next week to hear the bill," Hall reports. (Read more)
- With 55 Votes Needed Instead Of The Usual 51, It Just Got Harder To Pass A Smoke-free Workplace Law In The House
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. ? A bill to ban smoking in public places and places of employment will require the commitment of a supermajority to get a vote on the House floor, making it more difficult to pass. Rep. Susan Westrom,...
- Statewide Smoking Ban Dead For This Year, As House Democrats Worry About Political Ramifications In Fall Elections
The sponsor of a bill for a statewide ban on smoking in enclosed public places said it is dead for this year, Tom Loftus reports for The Courier-Journal. Westrom"It's dead," Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, told Loftus. "I've been told that there...
- Chief Sponsor Of Statewide Smoking Ban Says It Has The Votes To Pass The House; Prospects In The Senate Are Not As Good
A bill to ban smoking in most workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars, is on its way to the House floor, its main sponsor said after fast approval in committee. After the House Health and Welfare Committee approved the ban for the...
- Smoking Ban Bill Clears House Committee For First Time; But Sponsor Says She Won't Take It Farther This Session
A measure for a statewide smoking ban passed the House Health and Welfare Committee today, the first time such a bill has cleared committee in legislative history, Deborah Yetter reports for The Courier-Journal. But House Bill 289 is not expected to...
- Abortion Bills Die In House Health And Welfare Committee
Four bills that would have made it more difficult to have an abortion in Kentucky won't make it past the House Health and Welfare Committee. House Bill 390 and House Bill 215 would have prohibited a woman from having abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy...