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Steve Spencer lights up a cigarette Thursday afternoon at the Brickhouse Bar & Grill in Wathena, Kan. Bills are under consideration in the Missouri and Kansas legislatures to ban smoking in most public places.

WATHENA, Kan. — Zach Benitz didn’t light up a cigarette as he feasted on a meal Thursday at a local bar.

But the days when Mr. Benitz — who lives and works in Wathena — may choose to smoke with his food may soon dwindle. A proposal circulating through the Kansas Legislature seeks to ban smoking in most public places, including bars, restaurants, workplaces and government buildings. The bill has cleared the Senate and is scheduled for House hearings in the next 10 days.

Missouri State Sen. Joan Bray, a Democrat who represents St. Louis County, has filed a bill to enact a statewide smoking ban in public places or public meetings, including casinos. That measure awaits action from a Senate health committee.

Mr. Benitz said a smoking ban would force him out into the cold air beyond establishments’ doors.

“It’s going to be an inconvenience,” he speculated.

Smoking and food are natural companions to many like him.

“Especially in a place like a bar,” he said. “It kind of goes hand in hand.”

A ban would be harmful in other ways and impact the nonsmoker, Mr. Benitz said. “I don’t think it would help the businesses any,” he said. “It would hurt them.”

Business impact

Several diners at the Brickhouse Bar & Grill in Elwood agreed. Matt Barnett of St. Joseph, doesn’t smoke, but he said bans in both states would be wrong and hurt business.

“It goes back to free enterprise,” he said. “They’ll just find another place to smoke.” Most people who smoke also drink beer and liquor, Mr. Barnett said.

A companion, Steve Spencer of St. Joseph, agreed and took a moment to light a cigarette at the business as both men drank beers.

“You shouldn’t have a right to tell a man how to run a business,” he said.

Brickhouse owner Jim Cave said he tries to accommodate smokers and non-smokers alike by setting aside space for both groups.

“I think they’d just go outside and smoke,” he said of the proposed ban’s effect.

Some exemptions

Shirley Cochran, a smoker who’s owned Shirley’s Dinner Bell in Wathena for nearly 12 years, said many of her customers enjoy lighting up when they come to the restaurant to drink coffee. She said she thinks the ban would hit her business hard.

“I think some wouldn’t come back,” she said.

If it becomes law, the Kansas ban would be exempt in gambling areas of any new state-owned casinos and in private clubs that existed as of Jan. 1. The state has yet to build any casinos.

Other exemptions would include private homes, personal vehicles, tobacco shops, hotels where smoking is banned in 80 percent of the rooms, and adult care homes and long-term-care facilities.

Smoking in Kansas also would be banned within 10 feet of any doorway, open window or air intake, of any place that bans smoking.

State Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, voted against the ban. “I think it’s best left to the local businesses and individuals,” he said.

Mr. Pyle called it hypocritical for government to attempt the enforcement of a smoking ban on private concerns, yet allow the exemptions.

Future trends

On the Missouri side, Ms. Bray said she was influenced by district constituents familiar with a recent smoking ban in Illinois. She had submitted similar legislation in 2008. Her measure would cover bars and restaurants. A provision allowing for a designated smoking area in public places was repealed.

“It’ll be hard to get done,” she admitted. “(But) I think it is the future ... We need to have it out there.”

Consequences for public health also compelled her to write the bill. “It’s a negative in the environment and people’s lives,” Ms. Bray said.

An exemption has not been included in the bill for smoking in Missouri’s casinos. Craig Travers, general manager of Terrible’s St. Jo Frontier Casino, said the ban has proven to be a detriment to casinos in other states. For example, he said the number of gaming patrons in Illinois has declined after that state enacted its smoking ban.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea in light of the economic situation,” he said. “Obviously, those people have gone somewhere else to game.”

The American Lung Association supports a comprehensive smoke-free law, said Michelle Bernth, the organization’s marketing and communications’ senior vice president for the St. Louis office.

“Missouri bears a big burden when it comes to tobacco,” she said. The state has an extremely low tobacco tax and not many locally enforced smoke-free laws, Ms. Bernth said.

Chillicothe prohibited smoking in public buildings in 2008.

Ray Scherer can be reached at rscherer@npgco.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.