June 19, 2013

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House proposal would take tobacco out of prisons (AUDIO)

March 15, 2012 By

Legislation that would ban smoking in the state’s corrections system has led to some interesting discussion in the House Corrections Committee.

Representative Chris Molendorp

Current state law restricts smoking at correctional facilities to designated areas outside. Representative Chris Molendorp’s (R-Belton) proposal would ban use of tobacco products at correctional facilities beginning July 1, 2013. He says that allows time to engage public health foundations who offer smoking cessation programs.

Molendorp says the budget for medical services for Missouri’s inmate population has jumped by $15 million in the last two fiscal years to a proposed $149 million in the Governor’s fiscal year 2013 budget. How many of those medical needs can be connected to smoking is unclear. Another proposed $376 million would go to health care for correctional officers. Molendorp says all of that approximately $525 million dollars in inmate and employee healthcare comes from general revenue.

Molendorp says 26 other states have come up with plans that have worked. “(They) have an intake process that informs the inmate under our care, custody and control that it will be a tobacco-free environment. Florida went to it. Their penal system is much larger than ours. Cass County does it.”

He says he knows the issue is emotional and controversial. “But at some point, we need to acknowledge that this is a public policy that shouldn’t just be changed for the sake of change but it is a true financial management issue. We have failed to control costs in an area where we can’t identify a factor that will begin to blunt that cost explosion.”

Lobbyist for the Department of Corrections Andy Briscoe told the Committee cigarette sales in prisons generates $5.7 million annually. “Those funds are kept within the Department of Corrections and used to fund various educational programs, spiritual programs and recreational programs at our facilities.”

The Corrections Officers Association testified against the bill. Lobbyist Harry Hill says the idea would make tobacco products a “black market” item. “There will be cigarettes in (the prisons), and then it become a much more precious commodity. There will be more fights, more disruption, more instances where corrections officers are put in peril because they have to break up fights or spend a lot of time searching for the cigarettes.”

University of Missouri School of Medicine researcher Stan Cowen supports the bill and says there is little evidence supporting the argument that stopping smoking will make cigarettes a valuable “black market” item. “When surveyed in 2007, 51 of the U.S. Departments of Corrections reported no violence or riots associated with the transition to stricter tobacco policy.”

Representative Kathie Conway (R-St. Charles) told Molendorp his proposal raises another idea. “Should we maybe extend the non smoking rule to everyone who takes any form of state aid? Because people on Medicaid … we don’t tell them they can’t smoke but yet we are paying for their health care just the same.”

AUDIO: Listen to the Corrections Committee discussion of HB 1136.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Human Interest, Law Enforcement, Legislature, News, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , , ,

Utility officials discuss cap-and-trade study, express concerns over possible rate hikes

June 24, 2009 By

Missouri’s utility officials are watching the federal climate-change legislation. The Waxman-Markey bill is could be taken up by Congress this week … key legislators are still working with agriculture officials on controversial measures in the bill the ag industry says would unfairly penalize rural areas.

The study, by the Missouri Public Utility Alliance, says cap-and-trade for carbon emissions could increase the electric rate in Missouri by 10 percent in 2015 … and raise it by as much as 80 percent in 20 years.

Robert Clayton, chairman of the Public Service Commission, says Missouri would be one of the states harder hit by the legislation, since a lot of our state’s energy comes from coal. However, Clayton says legislators continue to rework the language of the bill, and a lot depends on the final version of the bill.

And, he says, the PSC wants to be proactive rather than reactive in lowering carbon emissions. Clayton says the federal stimulus funding has provided numerous grants and programs, such as for weatherization in low-income homes, and he says Missourians need to take advantage of what’s are available. The PSC is working with the Department of Natural Resources on some of those programs, he says.

“That’s the message we’re trying to get out to consumers,” he says. “You need to take advantage of programs out there to take control of your energy and cut down on how much energy you use because ultimately that will help you save money.”

Energy program information is on the commission’s Web site at psc.mo.gov.

And he says the PSC wants to be a resource for legislators looking at the bill, and provide useful analysis and research.

Missouri should continue to look at nuclear power.

Legislators are still working with the Agriculture industry, which says rural areas would be hardest hit by the increases. Clayton says a lot depends on the final language of the bill, which could be taken up by the end of this week.

Missouri should continue to look at nuclear energy, he says, despite the failure of a bill this session that would let Ameren UE charge rate payers while the plant is under construction.

“Nuclear is expensive to build but then is efficient and may be an appropriate source to look at in future cap-and-trade rules,” he tells the Missourinet.

Echoing the main concern of this week’s forum looking at the study, Clayton says, “Any legislation that restricts carbon emissions is going to affect a state that relies on coal energy. We’ve benefitted from the low cost over the years and I hope our congressional legislation is mindful of actions they can include,” such as rebates for residential or commercial interests that would be majorly impacted. “I think they have that in mind.”

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

KC Council Bans Smoking in Restaurants

January 25, 2008 By

Kansas City is banning smoking in most restaurants in sixty days. The ban, approved by the Kansas City Council, also bans smoking at the Truman Sports Complex, where the Royals and the Chiefs play.

The Council has decided not to put the issue before voters in April.

This ban does not include smoking in bars. Voters will have a no-smoking proposal before them, though. A citizen petition campaign would ban smoking from all restaurants and bars.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With: ,

KC Smoking Ban Proposal Clears Hurdle

January 1, 2008 By

Supporters of a proposal to ban smoking in Kansas City bars and restaurants have moved a step closer to making those establishments smoke-free.

Election officials have certified that an initiative petition effort gathered more than 4,500 valid signatures of registered voters out of more than 6,000 turned in. 4,237 were needed to force Kansas City City Council to act or place the issue on the ballot.

The City Clerk says this means an ordinance will be introduced, probably at this week’s council meeting, with council members enacting no-smoking provisions or putting the issue before voters. The ban would not apply to casino gaming floors in Kansas City but would apply to other bars and restaurants at the city’s casinos.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: ,

Tobacco Damage Award Tossed

August 1, 2007 By

The State Appeals Court in Kansas City has thrown out the largest punitive damage award in Missouri history on a smoking case – $20-Million – but has let stand a finding that Brown and Williamson Tobacco Company worked to keep harmful information about smoking from reaching the public.

The Appeals Court has sent the case back to a lower court for a new trial on punitive damages. The ruling says the basis for the jury’s award is unclear. However, one judge has dissented from the opinion and has exercised his right to have the issue sent directly to the State Supreme Court.

The ruling breaks new ground by saying that the death of a person suing a tobacco company for causing health problems does not keep survivors from filing their own lawsuit later.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With:
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