Lexington, KY - When the notion of a smoking ban first started being voiced in Kentucky, it was often business owners - restaurateurs and bar owners especially - who decried it as an attack on their ability to operate a successful business and an infringement on the rights of their patrons.
Allied with them would have been the state's tobacco growers, once a significant lobbying force in a still largely rural state.
"It would have been shocking 10 years ago for the chamber of commerce in a tobacco state to be advocating for a smoking measure," said Dave Adkisson, president and chief executive officer of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. But throwing support behind a proposed statewide smoking ban is exactly what Adkisson and the chamber are doing.
Among their legislative goals for 2012 is a law that prohibits smoking in indoor public places.
Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, is the sponsor of a bill that would ban smoking in all indoor workplaces - including restaurants and bars - and other public places in Kentucky. The Interim Joint Committee on Health & Welfare discussed a proposed statewide smoke-free law during an October meeting.
Among the things that have changed in the last 10 years, Adkisson said, is the recognition that Kentucky employers are being impacted in major ways by Kentucky's inability to kick the smoking habit. Workforce absenteeism affects productivity, high health insurance rates are affecting both employers and employees, and tax-paying companies see the high cost of smoking in Medicaid and public health programs.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 24.8 percent of Kentucky adults are smokers, the second-highest percentage in the nation, and Kentucky is first in the nation in smoking by both middle and high school students. It is estimated that smoking accounts for more than $1.7 billion annually in health-care expenditures in Kentucky, and economic productivity lost because of smoking in Kentucky is estimated at more than $2.6 billion each year.
A smoking ban is one of several health and wellness issues on the chamber legislative agenda. Adkisson said the chamber's research showed support from 70 percent of its members for a smoking ban.
"Smoking is one that is of immediate interest," Adkisson said. "It is something that employers can impact."
So far, 23 states have passed comprehensive smoking laws. In Ken-tucky, 19 communities, including the three largest cities - Lexington, Louisville and Bowling Green - have passed limits on smoking in public places. The momentum for banning smoking in public places has been building.
None of the three current candidates for governor are backing a statewide smoking ban this year.
One argument for a statewide ban is that it will create uniform regulations that will eliminate confusion.
Another shift during the past decade has been a decrease in Kentucky's dependency on tobacco as a key part of the economy. Kentucky used part of its share of the 1998 tobacco settlement to encourage tobacco growers to try alternative crops, and the end of a federal price support program for tobacco has created a disincentive for growing tobacco.
But a ban will still likely be a tougher sell in more rural Kentucky legislative districts. Westrom's bill for a comprehensive smoking ban failed during the 2011 session.
Under Westrom's previous bill, the state Department of Public Health and local health departments would enforce the ban. Individual violators could be fined $100 for the first offense and $250 thereafter. Businesses could be fined $250 on the first offense, $500 for the second, and $2,500 thereafter. Businesses also could report violators.
"Most legislators know what needs to be done in Kentucky," Adkisson said. "It can be difficult back home. Our job is to give legislators the support they need to do what's right."
Among the other issues on the chamber health-and-wellness agenda are enacting a tax credit for businesses that offer a wellness program and stepping up efforts to curb drug abuse, including limiting prescription drug distribution and expanding Kentucky's "MethCheck" program.
"We are taking a very active stance on wellness issues," Adkisson said.