Health News
- Sponsor Of Local Opt-out Amendment Says Smoking-ban Bill Needs It To Pass; Sponsor And House Leaders Don't Care For It
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News UPDATE: The House didn't vote on this amendment, but Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, says it or something like it would give the bill a better chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate. FRANKFORT, Ky....
- 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,...
- Smoking Ban Has 'around 50' Votes In House, Sponsor Says
UPDATE, Friday, Feb. 21: The bill has still not come to a vote. House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Thursday it had less than half of the 20 Republican votes needed to pass it, despite a floor amendment Westrom filed Tuesday that would exempt electronic cigarettes,...
- Bill For Statewide Smoking Ban Appears To Have Been Extinguished
The bill to enact a statewide smoking ban in Kentucky appears to be dead for this session of the General Assembly. The House sent House Bill 190 back to committee today, and "House Speaker Greg Stumbo said he doesn't expect the bill to make it back...
- 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. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...
Health News
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.
"It's dead," Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, told Loftus. "I've been told that there aren't enough votes and we're just going to have to wait until next year. That came from the governor's office."
Westrom said that after she met last week with Gov. Steve Beshear, who supports a ban, he called House members to get more votes for the bill, but "now the governor is saying that it might be risky for some people if they had to vote on it."
Last week, Westrom said House Speaker Greg Stumbo and other leaders of the House's tenuous Democratic majority were not calling the bill for a floor vote because some members who had told her they would vote for it had told the leaders that they didn't want a vote for fear of political repercussions. Control of the House is up for grabs in this fall's elections.
Stumbo denied that, saying he still supported House Bill 173, but acknowledged, "Others in leadership have problems." But when the bill died, he told The Courier-Journal, "A lot of members that we spoke with ? both Democrats and Republicans ? didn?t really want to address the issue in an election year. . . . A lot of our members, most of whom live in rural areas, were intimidated by it."
Westrom told Ryan Alessi of cn|2's "Pure Politics" that Beshear told her that Republican votes were contingent on GOP representatives seeing that Democrats were taking the lead to pass the bill as the House voted. ?Nobody seemed comfortable with how many Democratic votes would light up the board which would entice the Republicans,? Westrom said.
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| Westrom |
Westrom said that after she met last week with Gov. Steve Beshear, who supports a ban, he called House members to get more votes for the bill, but "now the governor is saying that it might be risky for some people if they had to vote on it."
Last week, Westrom said House Speaker Greg Stumbo and other leaders of the House's tenuous Democratic majority were not calling the bill for a floor vote because some members who had told her they would vote for it had told the leaders that they didn't want a vote for fear of political repercussions. Control of the House is up for grabs in this fall's elections.
Stumbo denied that, saying he still supported House Bill 173, but acknowledged, "Others in leadership have problems." But when the bill died, he told The Courier-Journal, "A lot of members that we spoke with ? both Democrats and Republicans ? didn?t really want to address the issue in an election year. . . . A lot of our members, most of whom live in rural areas, were intimidated by it."
Westrom told Ryan Alessi of cn|2's "Pure Politics" that Beshear told her that Republican votes were contingent on GOP representatives seeing that Democrats were taking the lead to pass the bill as the House voted. ?Nobody seemed comfortable with how many Democratic votes would light up the board which would entice the Republicans,? Westrom said.
- Sponsor Of Local Opt-out Amendment Says Smoking-ban Bill Needs It To Pass; Sponsor And House Leaders Don't Care For It
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News UPDATE: The House didn't vote on this amendment, but Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, says it or something like it would give the bill a better chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate. FRANKFORT, Ky....
- 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,...
- Smoking Ban Has 'around 50' Votes In House, Sponsor Says
UPDATE, Friday, Feb. 21: The bill has still not come to a vote. House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Thursday it had less than half of the 20 Republican votes needed to pass it, despite a floor amendment Westrom filed Tuesday that would exempt electronic cigarettes,...
- Bill For Statewide Smoking Ban Appears To Have Been Extinguished
The bill to enact a statewide smoking ban in Kentucky appears to be dead for this session of the General Assembly. The House sent House Bill 190 back to committee today, and "House Speaker Greg Stumbo said he doesn't expect the bill to make it back...
- 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. "Republicans were upset over the committee chairman's...