Legislators will not study state smoking ban

Publication Date: 2007-07-07

• Author:Chris Green
• Publication:Hutchinson (KS) News

Legislative leaders snuffed out Friday the idea of creating a special committee to study a statewide smoking ban.

A proposal before the Legislative Coordinating Council would have formed a panel to look at public smoking restrictions in Kansas prior to the start of a new legislative session in January.

However, when the Legislature's seven top leaders met in the Statehouse Friday to finalize what off-session topics would be studied, House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, asked that the proposed panel be dropped.

Merrick said he believed that regulating public smoking was primarily an issue for local governments to deal with, not the Legislature.