Kentucky Smoking Ban Once Again Stalls in Senate

Once again, a proposed smoking ban in Kentucky has met its match: the state’s Republican-controlled Senate.

Last month the proposed smoking ban passed the Kentucky House of Representatives 51-46, but now supporters have declared it dead in the Senate.

Amy Barkley, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Kentucky, told The Courier-Journal that “it appears to have a zero chance because Senate leadership has made it clear they do not want this issue to move forward.”

What Barkley is referring to isn’t simply opposition, but procedural maneuvers taken by the Republican leadership in the Senate. It started a few weeks ago when the bill was assigned to the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee instead of the Health and Welfare Committee. Sen. Albert Robinson, R-London, chairs the former and is opposed to the bill, meaning it may not even be brought up for hearings.

There are six days left in the scheduled session and it seems unlikely that the smoking ban, which would affect both public and private places, will be bought up.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.