Smoking ban dies in House

Publication Date: 2008-02-14

• Author:Terry Woster
• Publication:Sioux Falls Argus Leader

The statewide smoking ban that surfaced Tuesday disappeared Wednesday in a cloud of rules questions, but an advocate promised it will return before the session ends.

"It's very much alive," Rep. Joni Cutler, R-Sioux Falls, said of her proposal to ban smoking in almost all public places in South Dakota. "I will be looking at ways to bring that back before the Legislature as the session continues."

Cutler thought she'd found her forum Tuesday when the House State Affairs Committee called a special meeting that never was officially posted. The committee met, revived a dead bill, turned it into a smoking ban and passed it on to the full House.

The bill reached Wednesday's debate calendar. But the legislative rulebook showed that the Tuesday committee meeting couldn't take place, House Republican leader Larry Rhoden of Union Center said.