Texas Smoking Ban Snuffed Out of Spending Bill

AUSTIN (AP) � Area Senator Bob Deuell weighs in as a ban on smoking in Texas bars and restaurants is snuffed out. Senators tell The Associated Press that the proposed ban has been stripped out of one of the final spending bills before the Legislature. Supporters have tried for several years to restrict smoking in public places on a statewide basis. They hoped tying one to a critical spending bill would get it passed. Supporters said it would save Texas hundreds of millions of dollars treating people who get sick from smoking-related diseases. The House passed the ban, but it ran into problems in the Senate. Deuell, R-Greenville, says lawmakers didn�t want to risk losing the spending bill and its critical school finance provisions by tying it to a controversial measure like the smoking ban.