A bill to prohibit indoor smoking in businesses, places of employment, and other listed public places in Kentucky cleared its first hurdle on Wednesday, passing the House Health & Wellness Committee. For Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexintgon, House Bill 145 is the fourth time she has tried to get a statewide smoking ban in place, with last year’s version officially dying when the legislative session wrapped up in April. At that time, Westrom promised she would be back with another proposal in 2015, saying she felt confident there would be enough votes to pass it. After today’s action, she said she thought it would get a vote by the full house next Wednesday, according to Kentucky.com, which would be a first for any of the smoking ban bills she has introduced. The proposed ordinance would not only prohibit indoor smoking in businesses but create a 15-foot buffer zone from those locations in which smoking would be prohibited. Hotels and other forms of lodging would no longer be able to allow smoking in designated rooms. Exemptions provided by the ban are few and narrow, focusing on laboratories at educational institutions, tobacco manufacturers or certain researchers, as well as in tobacco barns or buildings on ...
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