JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would ban smoking in most public places in Missouri, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Under the measure, smoking would be prohibited in shopping malls, restaurants, gambling facilities, bars and other public buildings.
“We’re on three sides surrounded by no smoking states,” said Rep. Walt Bivins, who sponsored the bill along with Rep. Jill Schupp. “I just think it’s time we pass this for the health of all of us.”
The two representatives asked the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society to assist in the bill’s language. But opponents of the bill contend the measure is not likely to garner widespread support.
“I’m still not convinced this is the year that happens,” said Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields. He pointed out that the Missouri restaurant industry, which is already suffering, would probably come out against such a proposal because of the expected loss of business.
In 2009, Sen. Joan Bray introduced a bill that banned smoking but that measure never made it to a committee hearing. Currently, Columbia, Kansas City and Springfield have passed their own indoor smoking bans. In November, voters in St. Louis County, which encompasses St. Louis, okayed an anti-smoking ban, which will take effect in 2011.